Financial Counselors Inc. Has $877,000 Stock Holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Cabot were worth $877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Cabot during the 4th quarter worth $247,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 241.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 31,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,837,000 after purchasing an additional 21,974 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 5,904 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Cabot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,315,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Cabot by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 942,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $86,039,000 after purchasing an additional 53,090 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CBT opened at $84.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.00. Cabot Co. has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.90 and its 200-day moving average is $98.31.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CBT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho lowered their target price on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

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.