Cabot (CBT) Competitors

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) and Cabot (NYSE:CBT) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, media sentiment and earnings.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, WLK or CBT?

Westlake has higher revenue and earnings than Cabot. Cabot is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westlake, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake	$12.14B	0.86	$602M	$2.98	27.43
Cabot	$3.99B	1.06	$380M	$7.73	10.21

Which has more risk and volatility, WLK or CBT?

Westlake has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cabot has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WLK or CBT more profitable?

Cabot has a net margin of 11.08% compared to Westlake's net margin of 3.23%. Cabot's return on equity of 26.76% beat Westlake's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake	3.23%	4.19%	2.21%
Cabot	11.08%	26.76%	11.24%

Do analysts prefer WLK or CBT?

Westlake currently has a consensus target price of $90.54, indicating a potential upside of 10.75%. Cabot has a consensus target price of $92.67, indicating a potential upside of 17.39%. Given Cabot's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cabot is more favorable than Westlake.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54
Cabot	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the media prefer WLK or CBT?

In the previous week, Cabot had 4 more articles in the media than Westlake. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Cabot and 2 mentions for Westlake. Cabot's average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Westlake's score of 0.96 indicating that Cabot is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Westlake	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cabot	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of WLK or CBT?

28.4% of Westlake shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of Cabot shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Westlake shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Cabot shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is WLK or CBT a better dividend stock?

Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Cabot pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Westlake pays out 70.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cabot pays out 23.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Westlake has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years and Cabot has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Westlake is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Cabot beats Westlake on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.