Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Shares Up 4.4% – What’s Next?

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)’s share price rose 4.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $88.82 and last traded at $88.64. Approximately 136,472 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 418,608 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBT has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

Cabot Trading Up 2.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.48 and its 200 day moving average is $100.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s payout ratio is presently 22.84%.

Cabot declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC grew its stake in 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 during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $654,000. Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at $274,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cabot during the 4th quarter valued at $1,269,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Cabot by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 40,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,688,000 after acquiring an additional 6,950 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.