Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $102.98 and last traded at $100.88, with a volume of 69962 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $95.94.

The specialty chemicals company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 25.52%. Cabot’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS.

Cabot Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CBT. Mizuho increased their price objective on Cabot from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Cabot from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cabot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cabot 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 value of $4,413,669.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 97,201 shares in the company, valued at $7,767,331.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 3.1% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,434 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Cabot by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 30,469 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,809,000 after buying an additional 1,878 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Cabot by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 29,164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,689,000 after buying an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 6.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 862,081 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $79,484,000 after acquiring an additional 49,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Cabot by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,557 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,754 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $91.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.05. The firm has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

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.