Atria Investments Inc Buys 3,588 Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,617 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,588 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Cabot were worth $2,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Cabot by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,933 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Cabot by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 8,995 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Cabot by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Cabot during the 4th quarter valued at $271,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP raised its stake in Cabot by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 3,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Cabot stock opened at $84.84 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.13. Cabot Co. has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $117.46.

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

Cabot announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s payout ratio is 22.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CBT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho lowered their price target 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, StockNews.com raised shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.