StockNews.com Upgrades Cabot (NYSE:CBT) to “Buy”

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho cut 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

Cabot Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CBT traded up $0.87 on Tuesday, hitting $84.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 343,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,186. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $85.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.86. Cabot has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 expect that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CBT. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Cabot during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Cabot by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cabot by 1,685.1% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cabot during the third quarter worth $226,000. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.