Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Raises Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Cabot were worth $4,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $143,504,000 after purchasing an additional 22,719 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 21.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 13.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 355,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,716,000 after purchasing an additional 41,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 178,431 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,293,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of CBT opened at $83.47 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.82 and a 200 day moving average of $99.43. Cabot Co. has a twelve month low of $79.57 and a twelve month high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CBT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cabot has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.