Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

Cabot Stock Down 2.3 %

Cabot stock traded down $1.96 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $84.57. 569,546 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 437,301. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $87.27 and its 200 day moving average is $99.89. Cabot has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. Analysts predict that Cabot will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Cabot by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Cabot by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 62,116 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,943,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its stake in Cabot by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cabot

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.