QRG Capital Management Inc. Invests $482,000 in Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT)

QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $482,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot in the first quarter valued at approximately $975,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Cabot by 84.8% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,245 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 4,702 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Cabot by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,850 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Cabot during the 1st quarter valued at $1,102,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Cabot by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CBT shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Cabot from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cabot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of Cabot stock traded up $1.34 on Thursday, hitting $76.42. The company had a trading volume of 428,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,785. Cabot Corporation has a 52 week low of $71.64 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.89, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.07.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $936.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.76% and a net margin of 11.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Cabot Corporation will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is a boost from Cabot's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Cabot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.