Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for 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 business's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. Cabot updated its FY24 guidance to $6.65-6.85 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 6.650-6.850 EPS.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of CBT stock traded up $5.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $100.99. 767,326 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 308,474. Cabot has a 52-week low of $63.73 and a 52-week high of $103.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.27.

Cabot Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CBT shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Cabot from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Cabot from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Cabot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cabot from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.67.

Insider Activity at Cabot

In other news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 55,233 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 97,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,767,331.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.