Edgestream Partners L.P. Makes New Investment in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 28,840 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,633,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned 0.05% of Cabot at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Cabot during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 197.9% in 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 period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 831 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of Cabot stock opened at $84.84 on Monday. Cabot Co. has a one year low of $79.57 and a one year high of $117.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.13. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.