Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,730 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cabot were worth $6,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CBT. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Cabot during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Cabot by 60.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Cabot by 338.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,683 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 9,017 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Cabot by 5.2% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Cabot by 17.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total transaction of $4,005,279.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,833,749.21. The trade was a 40.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total transaction of $1,649,599.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,865,099.25. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cabot Stock Performance

Cabot stock opened at $103.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $110.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Cabot Co. has a 12 month low of $70.63 and a 12 month high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cabot presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

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.