Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Reaches New 1-Year High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $102.98 and last traded at $100.88, with a volume of 69962 shares traded. 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 firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 11.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share.

Cabot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. 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. Cabot’s payout ratio is 20.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 55,233 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cabot by 143.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cabot in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 81.8% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 460 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Cabot by 372.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 505 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Cabot during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Stock Up 0.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.27. 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’s 50 day moving average is $91.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.05.

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.