State of Michigan Retirement System Cuts Stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,265 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Cabot were worth $1,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CBT. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 96,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Cabot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 28,319 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 4,801 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 81.8% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 460 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 156,113 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,035,000 after buying an additional 74,023 shares during the period. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 23,274 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.79, for a total value of $2,322,512.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,968,839.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 23,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.79, for a total value of $2,322,512.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,968,839.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 1,201 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.19, for a total value of $127,534.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 96,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,194,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,322 shares of company stock worth $4,707,405. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have 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 Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Cabot from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Cabot from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.75.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CBT opened at $104.26 on Friday. Cabot Co. has a 1 year low of $65.10 and a 1 year high of $106.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $96.26 and its 200 day moving average is $94.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.21% and a net margin of 11.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.77%.

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.