Magnetar Financial LLC Takes $247,000 Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cabot during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Cabot by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cabot by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 1,685.1% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of CBT opened at $82.17 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $86.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.73. The stock has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. Cabot Co. has a 1-year low of $79.57 and a 1-year high of $117.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

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

Cabot declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price target on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cabot currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

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.