Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Short Interest Update

by · The Markets Daily

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT – Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,940,000 shares, a decline of 15.3% from the February 28th total of 3,470,000 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 441,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days.

Cabot Price Performance

CBT traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.20. 73,272 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 377,000. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Cabot has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $117.46.

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

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CBT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cabot presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Cabot

Institutional Trading of Cabot

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CBT. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cabot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cabot by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 1,685.1% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cabot during the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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