Short Interest in Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT) Rises By 38.1%

Key Points

• Cabot Corporation's short interest surged by 38.1% in August, amounting to 2,970,000 shares shorted as of August 31st, which indicates a growing bearish sentiment among investors.
• The company recently reported an EPS of $1.90 for its latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, although revenue fell short of consensus estimates, recording $923 million.
• Cabot announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, yielding approximately 2.3%, demonstrating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,970,000 shares, a growth of 38.1% from the August 15th total of 2,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 371,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.0 days. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 371,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, UBS Group set a $82.00 price target on Cabot and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cabot

In other news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 114,436 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.28, for a total transaction of $9,072,486.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 361,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,661,147.04. The trade was a 24.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cabot

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CBT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cabot in the 2nd quarter worth $51,710,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 123.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 867,946 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $65,096,000 after buying an additional 478,702 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 318.0% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 571,034 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $47,476,000 after buying an additional 434,434 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Cabot by 13.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,498,268 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $124,566,000 after buying an additional 174,921 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Cabot in the 1st quarter worth about $12,365,000. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of CBT traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 870,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,368. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 0.90. Cabot has a fifty-two week low of $70.40 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.14.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $923.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $957.29 million. Cabot had a return on equity of 25.68% and a net margin of 11.14%. Cabot has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.150-7.500 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Cabot's payout ratio is presently 23.53%.

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.