Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Position Raised by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 221.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,346 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,633 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Cabot were worth $1,675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CBT. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Cabot in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cabot by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cabot by 1,685.1% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Cabot by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Cabot in the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Cabot from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cabot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of CBT traded up $2.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.16. 378,916 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 408,516. The business's 50-day moving average price is $78.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.00. Cabot Co. has a 12 month low of $71.64 and a 12 month high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $936.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from Cabot's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Cabot's payout ratio is 23.29%.

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.