Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Given New $109.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) had its target price upped by Mizuho from $104.00 to $109.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Cabot from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Cabot from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cabot from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $93.67.

Cabot Price Performance

NYSE CBT opened at $100.99 on Tuesday. Cabot has a 12-month low of $63.73 and a 12-month high of $103.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.27.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.12. Cabot had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Cabot’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Cabot will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Cabot’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 55,233 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $4,413,669.03. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 97,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,767,331.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cabot

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cabot by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,361,129 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $440,635,000 after buying an additional 24,961 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Cabot by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,908,495 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $340,011,000 after purchasing an additional 20,589 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,167,091 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $219,384,000 after purchasing an additional 66,422 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,254 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $109,664,000 after purchasing an additional 32,735 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Cabot by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 862,081 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $79,484,000 after purchasing an additional 49,467 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.