Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Short Interest Update

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the January 15th total of 2,090,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 404,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CBT. StockNews.com raised Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cabot

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Cabot during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 197.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Cabot by 35.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 564 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 22.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cabot in the third quarter worth about $82,000. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Trading Up 0.8 %

Cabot stock opened at $86.53 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Cabot has a 12-month low of $80.21 and a 12-month high of $117.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $90.90 and a 200 day moving average of $101.26.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Cabot will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

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

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.