Man Group plc Cuts Stock Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Man Group plc reduced its holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 5,627 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.21% of Cabot worth $10,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,961,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 349,369 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $31,901,000 after purchasing an additional 141,050 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cabot by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $69,521,000 after buying an additional 135,119 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Cabot by 8.5% during 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 buying an additional 103,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Cabot by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 451,513 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,228,000 after buying an additional 96,179 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Trading Up 1.0%

CBT stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $74.08. 399,596 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,218. Cabot Co. has a 1-year low of $71.64 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.41.

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

Cabot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Cabot's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Cabot 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.