Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Cabot Corporation $CBT

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group increased its Cabot stake by 255.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 36,570 shares worth about $2.42 million.
• Cabot has seen broad institutional buying, with hedge funds and other investors owning 93.18% of the stock overall.
• The company reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.4725 per share, lifting the annualized payout to $1.89.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 255.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,294 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Cabot worth $2,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 8.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,805,393 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $137,300,000 after purchasing an additional 140,665 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 3.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,683,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $128,032,000 after purchasing an additional 63,080 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 5.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,556,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $118,392,000 after acquiring an additional 73,734 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 2.4% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,008,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $76,722,000 after acquiring an additional 23,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 3.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 893,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $67,970,000 after acquiring an additional 25,814 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CBT shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Cabot from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Cabot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Cabot from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on Cabot from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Cabot from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.25.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CBT opened at $84.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.70. Cabot Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.33 and a 1-year high of $86.43. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.14. Cabot had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 7.97%.The business had revenue of $904.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $900.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. Cabot's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Cabot has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.000-6.50 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Cabot Corporation will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.4725 per share. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Cabot's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.03%.

Cabot Profile

Cabot Corporation is a global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1882 by Godfrey Lowell Cabot, the company has grown into a diversified manufacturer with operations across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Cabot serves a wide range of end markets, including automotive, industrial, energy, and consumer products, supplying essential ingredients that enhance performance, durability and functionality.

The company operates two primary segments: Reinforcement Materials and Performance Materials.

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