Versor Investments LP Sells 12,975 Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Versor Investments LP lessened its holdings in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 84.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 12,975 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Cabot were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CBT. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Cabot by 0.6% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,283,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $302,720,000 after purchasing an additional 19,276 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Cabot by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,254 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $109,664,000 after buying an additional 32,735 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 862,081 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $79,484,000 after acquiring an additional 49,467 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Cabot by 1.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 693,580 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,733,000 after acquiring an additional 11,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Cabot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 674,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $56,331,000 after acquiring an additional 5,831 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE CBT opened at $99.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Cabot Co. has a 12-month low of $65.10 and a 12-month high of $106.92.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.99% and a net margin of 12.05%. Cabot’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cabot Co. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is 21.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Cabot from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut Cabot from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cabot news, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 23,274 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.79, for a total transaction of $2,322,512.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,968,839.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 5,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.58, for a total transaction of $548,865.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,204,579.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 23,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.79, for a total value of $2,322,512.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 59,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,968,839.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,939 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,812 over the last three months. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.