Intech Investment Management LLC Purchases 9,359 Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 91.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 9,359 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cabot were worth $1,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBT. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cabot during the fourth quarter worth approximately $458,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cabot by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 124,079 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,330,000 after acquiring an additional 8,068 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in shares of Cabot by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 47,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at $500,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CBT. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

Cabot Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE:CBT opened at $82.49 on Friday. Cabot Co. has a 1 year low of $79.57 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.93. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

Cabot announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot 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.