Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,940,000 shares, a drop of 15.3% from the February 28th total of 3,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 441,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Cabot Price Performance

NYSE:CBT opened at $83.22 on Tuesday. Cabot has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a P/E/G 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, 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cabot will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cabot

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cabot by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Cabot by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 1,685.1% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 43.1% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

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.