Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Reaches New 12-Month Low - What's Next?

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $77.02 and last traded at $78.55, with a volume of 576596 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CBT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised Cabot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Cabot from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

Cabot Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.96 and a 200 day moving average of $92.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.91.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $936.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Cabot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Cabot's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 55.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 600 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cabot during the first quarter worth about $83,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company's stock.

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.