Stifel Financial Corp Has $5.03 Million Stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 15.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 45,023 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,898 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Cabot were worth $5,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Cabot by 2.4% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,363,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $309,063,000 after buying an additional 80,096 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,348,972 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,965,000 after purchasing an additional 4,437 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Cabot by 7.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 976,709 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,750,000 after purchasing an additional 66,171 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Cabot by 5.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 913,259 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $83,919,000 after purchasing an additional 51,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Cabot by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $79,070,000 after buying an additional 19,215 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Cabot stock opened at $103.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $110.25 and its 200 day moving average is $103.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. Cabot Co. has a 1 year low of $70.63 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.01). Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total value of $1,649,599.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,865,099.25. This represents a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total value of $4,005,279.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,833,749.21. This represents a 40.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534 over the last quarter. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.00.

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.