Schroder Investment Management Group Purchases 31,394 Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 67.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,394 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Cabot were worth $7,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,323,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $120,835,000 after buying an additional 103,380 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cabot by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $143,504,000 after purchasing an additional 22,719 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Cabot by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 942,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $86,039,000 after purchasing an additional 53,090 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,521,000 after purchasing an additional 135,119 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $64,886,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cabot Stock Performance

Cabot stock opened at $78.39 on Friday. Cabot Co. has a 12-month low of $75.51 and a 12-month high of $117.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.04.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced 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 net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Cabot’s payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.00.

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.