Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Acquired by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 149.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,572 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cabot were worth $3,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CBT. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,323,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $120,835,000 after acquiring an additional 103,380 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $143,504,000 after buying an additional 22,719 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 942,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $86,039,000 after buying an additional 53,090 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,521,000 after buying an additional 135,119 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Cabot by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $64,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Trading Up 1.1 %

CBT opened at $84.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $79.57 and a 12-month high of $117.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $85.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.86.

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

Cabot announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CBT. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.