Polaris Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Polaris Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cabot were worth $1,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in Cabot in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cabot in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Cabot by 53.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 197.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 35.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 564 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cabot

In related news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,865,099.25. The trade was a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total value of $96,655.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,571.08. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.00.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of Cabot stock opened at $86.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $92.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.70. Cabot Co. has a one year low of $78.61 and a one year high of $117.46. The stock has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.00.

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

Cabot announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Cabot’s payout ratio is 22.84%.

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.