Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cabot (NYSE:CBT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cabot presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of CBT stock opened at $85.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Cabot has a 52-week low of $80.70 and a 52-week high of $117.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $89.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.05.

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

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cabot

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 103.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,699,000 after buying an additional 57,907 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cabot during the third quarter valued at $654,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 40,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,688,000 after acquiring an additional 6,950 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cabot in the 3rd quarter worth $609,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Cabot during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,269,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

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.