Short Interest in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Drops By 15.3%

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) 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 company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 441,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CBT shares. StockNews.com raised Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cabot presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cabot

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Cabot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Cabot by 10.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cabot by 1,685.1% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Cabot by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Stock Down 1.0 %

CBT stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.20. The company had a trading volume of 73,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 377,000. Cabot has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.86. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.00.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 forecast that Cabot will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 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.