Securian Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,144 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Cabot were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CBT. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Cabot during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 1,685.1% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Price Performance

CBT stock opened at $84.41 on Wednesday. Cabot Co. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $117.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $86.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.14. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21.

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 research analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CBT. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

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.