Short Interest in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Increases By 9.6%

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the January 15th total of 2,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 404,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Cabot Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE CBT traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.53. 433,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 382,872. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $91.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.33. Cabot has a 12 month low of $80.21 and a 12 month high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

Cabot declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CBT. Mizuho lowered their price target 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBT. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cabot in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 197.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 35.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 564 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 22.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 37.2% during the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

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.