Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT – Get Rating) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,390,000 shares, an increase of 60.4% from the February 13th total of 1,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 432,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.
In other Cabot news, SVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 11,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $867,667.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.78% of the company’s stock.
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 40,308 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 9,431 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,409 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,619 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 90.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Cabot from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Cabot from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 5th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Cabot from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cabot from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.
Shares of CBT traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.14. 546,336 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 504,956. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.81. Cabot has a 52-week low of $47.59 and a 52-week high of $74.87. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.02 and a beta of 1.46.
Cabot (NYSE:CBT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $968.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $815.24 million. Cabot had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 28.88%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cabot will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 25th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 24th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Cabot’s payout ratio is currently 86.55%.
About Cabot
Cabot Corp. is a global specialty chemicals and performance materials company. Its products are rubber and specialty grade carbon blacks, specialty compounds, fumed metal oxides, activated carbons, inkjet colorants, and aerogel. The company operates through the following segments: Reinforcement Materials, Performance Chemicals, and Purification Solutions.