Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,603 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.12% of Cabot worth $7,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 103.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,699,000 after purchasing an additional 57,907 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,240 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,881,000 after acquiring an additional 8,175 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 80,096 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $79,070,000 after acquiring an additional 19,215 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Cabot by 1,295.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 26,899 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 24,972 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total transaction of $4,005,279.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,833,749.21. This represents a 40.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total transaction of $1,649,599.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,865,099.25. This represents a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on CBT shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Cabot Price Performance

CBT stock opened at $100.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $109.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.32. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. Cabot Co. has a 1 year low of $70.63 and a 1 year high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). Cabot had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 26.60%. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.52%.

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.