Short Interest in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Decreases By 5.4%

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

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CBT opened at $100.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. 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 has a 1-year low of $70.63 and a 1-year high of $117.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $109.86 and its 200-day moving average is $103.32.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Cabot will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cabot

In other Cabot news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total transaction of $4,005,279.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,627 shares in the company, valued at $5,833,749.21. This trade represents a 40.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total transaction of $96,655.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,088,571.08. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,190 shares of company stock worth $5,751,534 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cabot

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Cabot by 2.1% during the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cabot by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted 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 valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its position in Cabot by 4.4% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 3,162 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CBT. Mizuho increased their price objective on Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

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.