Manchester Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 1,685.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cabot were worth $153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CBT. Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of Cabot by 577.1% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 269,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,096,000 after purchasing an additional 229,500 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cabot during the third quarter worth approximately $19,643,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cabot by 30.4% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 626,253 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,996,000 after purchasing an additional 146,179 shares in the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Cabot during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,228,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Cabot by 103.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,699,000 after purchasing an additional 57,907 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of Cabot stock opened at $86.53 on Friday. Cabot Co. has a 52 week low of $80.21 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.33. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. Equities analysts forecast that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.84%.

Cabot announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on CBT shares. StockNews.com lowered Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cabot currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.00.

Cabot Profile

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.