Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,380,000 shares, a decrease of 5.6% from the September 15th total of 2,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 376,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days. Approximately 4.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Cabot Price Performance

Cabot stock opened at $113.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.19. Cabot has a 52 week low of $65.10 and a 52 week high of $115.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Cabot had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 26.99%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cabot will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cabot

In other Cabot news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $2,601,406.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,630,719.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $2,601,406.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,630,719.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 23,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.79, for a total transaction of $2,322,512.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,814 shares in the company, valued at $5,968,839.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,939 shares of company stock worth $7,308,812. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cabot

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBT. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Cabot by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,363,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $309,063,000 after purchasing an additional 80,096 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 0.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,348,972 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,965,000 after buying an additional 4,437 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Cabot by 7.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 976,709 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,750,000 after buying an additional 66,171 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Cabot by 5.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 913,259 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $83,919,000 after acquiring an additional 51,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Cabot by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 693,580 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,733,000 after acquiring an additional 11,986 shares during the period. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CBT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Cabot from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cabot currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.75.

About Cabot

Cabot Corporation operates as a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. The company operates through two segments, Reinforcement Materials and Performance Chemicals. It offers reinforcing carbons that are used in tires as a rubber reinforcing agent and performance additive, as well as in industrial products, such as hoses, belts, extruded profiles, and molded goods; and engineered elastomer composites solutions.