MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in Cabot by 17.5% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 833 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in Cabot by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 3,162 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cabot by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 10,851 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Cabot by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Cabot by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 42,185 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,876,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $2,601,406.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 331,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,630,719.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Cabot news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $2,601,406.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,630,719.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 5,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.58, for a total value of $548,865.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,204,579.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,939 shares of company stock worth $7,308,812 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE CBT opened at $111.20 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $99.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.45. Cabot Co. has a 52-week low of $65.10 and a 52-week high of $111.64.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.99% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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 was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.77%.

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.