Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 66,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,603 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Cabot were worth $7,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Cabot during the third quarter valued at approximately $654,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Cabot by 2.9% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,917 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Cabot in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,651,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cabot during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,161,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cabot by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,408,000 after purchasing an additional 11,905 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cabot

In related news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $5,833,749.21. The trade was a 40.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total value of $96,655.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,571.08. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note 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 research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cabot has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE:CBT opened at $100.09 on Wednesday. Cabot Co. has a 1-year low of $70.63 and a 1-year high of $117.46. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $109.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.32.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). Cabot had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 26.60%. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Cabot’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

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

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.