Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Holdings Decreased by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA decreased its holdings in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 11,944 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA owned 0.30% of Cabot worth $14,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $143,504,000 after buying an additional 22,719 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cabot by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,521,000 after purchasing an additional 135,119 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $79,070,000 after purchasing an additional 19,215 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Cabot by 13.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 355,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,716,000 after purchasing an additional 41,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Cabot by 16.1% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 259,378 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,991,000 after purchasing an additional 36,036 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CBT opened at $84.56 on Friday. Cabot Co. has a fifty-two week low of $81.24 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One investment 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.00.

Cabot Company 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.