BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 10,980 Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 36.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,330 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 10,980 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Cabot were worth $1,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cabot by 1,685.1% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Cabot by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cabot Trading Down 2.6%

CBT stock traded down $1.95 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 436,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 406,877. Cabot Co. has a 52 week low of $71.64 and a 52 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 stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $79.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.52.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $936.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. This is a boost from Cabot's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Cabot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CBT. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Cabot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 21st.

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.