Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 49,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $4,511,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Cabot at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CBT. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Cabot by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,323,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $120,835,000 after purchasing an additional 103,380 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Cabot by 6.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 845,261 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $77,181,000 after buying an additional 55,905 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 794,477 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $72,544,000 after acquiring an additional 87,881 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $69,521,000 after acquiring an additional 135,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CBT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Cabot from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Cabot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of Cabot stock traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $75.19. 276,257 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 408,571. The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.91. Cabot Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.64 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.06.

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

Cabot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. This is a boost from Cabot's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.29%.

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.