Short Interest in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Drops By 5.8%

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,420,000 shares, a decline of 5.8% from the October 31st total of 2,570,000 shares. Currently, 4.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 369,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Cabot Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CBT traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $111.89. 10,608 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 343,883. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.18. Cabot has a 1 year low of $70.63 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.02 and a 200 day moving average of $102.98.

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

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,833,749.21. The trade was a 40.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total value of $96,655.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,571.08. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBT. Eastern Bank increased its position in Cabot by 577.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 269,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,096,000 after buying an additional 229,500 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cabot in the third quarter valued at about $19,643,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 30.4% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 626,253 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,996,000 after purchasing an additional 146,179 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 571.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 127,116 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,681,000 after purchasing an additional 108,197 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 2.4% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,363,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $309,063,000 after purchasing an additional 80,096 shares during the period. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CBT has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group lowered 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, Mizuho upped their target price on Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.00.

Cabot Company 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.