Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Purchased by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 27.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,904 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Cabot were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBT. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,521,000 after purchasing an additional 135,119 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Cabot by 8.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. purchased a new position in Cabot during the fourth quarter worth about $6,228,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Cabot by 103.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,699,000 after acquiring an additional 57,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,057,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE:CBT opened at $84.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16, 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. Cabot Co. has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.51.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.84%.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.