Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 9,014 Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,549 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,014 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Cabot were worth $3,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CBT. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Cabot by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,363,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $309,063,000 after acquiring an additional 80,096 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Cabot by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,348,972 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,965,000 after purchasing an additional 4,437 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 7.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 976,709 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,750,000 after purchasing an additional 66,171 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Cabot by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 913,259 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $83,919,000 after purchasing an additional 51,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Cabot by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 693,580 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,733,000 after purchasing an additional 11,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Stock Performance

CBT opened at $114.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.08. Cabot Co. has a 52-week low of $70.63 and a 52-week high of $117.46. The firm has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $109.13 and its 200-day moving average is $101.56.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Cabot’s payout ratio is presently 25.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CBT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Cabot from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $2,601,406.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 331,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,630,719.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 16,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.24, for a total transaction of $1,708,493.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,235,011.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $2,601,406.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,630,719.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,665 shares of company stock worth $4,986,299 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Company Profile

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.