Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,470,000 shares, a growth of 26.6% from the February 13th total of 2,740,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 425,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.2 days.

Cabot Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CBT traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $84.05. 314,055 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 345,780. Cabot has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $117.46. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.29. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Cabot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 22.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 10.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

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.