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

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) was the recipient of 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. Based on an average trading volume of 371,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days. Approximately 4.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cabot

In other Cabot news, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,571.08. This trade represents a 8.15 % 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, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total transaction of $1,649,599.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,865,099.25. The trade was a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,190 shares of company stock worth $5,751,534 over the last ninety days. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Cabot by 60.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 17.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 32.6% during the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,317 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Cabot by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 25,607 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cabot Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE CBT opened at $94.97 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Cabot has a fifty-two week low of $70.63 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Cabot’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Cabot will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CBT. 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 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 research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.