Hancock Whitney Corp Cuts Stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 134,079 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 659 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp owned approximately 0.24% of Cabot worth $14,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cabot by 8.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 460.6% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 1,649 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Cabot by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 38,375 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,539,000 after buying an additional 1,788 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Cabot by 101.7% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 9,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delphi Management Inc. MA raised its holdings in Cabot by 218.8% during the 1st quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 17,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 11,805 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE:CBT opened at $110.36 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $110.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.68. Cabot Co. has a twelve month low of $70.63 and a twelve month high of $117.46.

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

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cabot

In other news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $2,601,406.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 331,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,630,719.70. This trade represents a 7.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 16,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.24, for a total transaction of $1,708,493.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,235,011.36. This trade represents a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 92,197 shares of company stock worth $10,061,434 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CBT shares. UBS Group cut their price target on Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.00.

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.