Delta Financial Group Inc. Invests $274,000 in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Delta Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cabot by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $143,504,000 after acquiring an additional 22,719 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cabot by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,521,000 after purchasing an additional 135,119 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Cabot by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $79,070,000 after purchasing an additional 19,215 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Cabot by 13.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 355,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,716,000 after purchasing an additional 41,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Cabot by 16.1% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 259,378 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,991,000 after purchasing an additional 36,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CBT. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.00.

Cabot Stock Performance

CBT opened at $84.56 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.07. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Cabot Co. has a 52-week low of $81.24 and a 52-week high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

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

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.