Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Short Interest Down 5.4% in November

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) saw a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 2,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 371,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CBT has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cabot currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Cabot Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:CBT opened at $100.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. Cabot has a 1-year low of $70.63 and a 1-year high of $117.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $109.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.01). Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Cabot will post 7.67 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 buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total value of $4,005,279.57. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,833,749.21. This trade represents a 40.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total value of $1,649,599.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,865,099.25. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot during the third quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Cabot by 53.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Cabot by 60.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 197.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cabot by 33.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.