Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Price Target Increased to $103.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) had its price target raised by UBS Group from $100.00 to $103.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Cabot from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Cabot from a buy rating to a hold rating and upped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cabot from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $93.67.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CBT traded up $5.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.99. 767,326 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 308,474. The business's 50 day moving average is $90.82 and its 200-day moving average is $81.68. The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Cabot has a 1-year low of $63.73 and a 1-year high of $103.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cabot will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This is a positive change from Cabot's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cabot

In related news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 55,233 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $4,413,669.03. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,767,331.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CBT. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Cabot by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 41,878 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Cabot by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,476 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Cabot by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 175,336 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,146,000 after purchasing an additional 26,052 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in Cabot during the 3rd quarter valued at $248,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Cabot by 1,416.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,589,000 after purchasing an additional 48,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company's stock.

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.