Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 147,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 55,426 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cabot were worth $16,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 2.1% during the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 22.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 33.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 53.9% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 35.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 564 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Trading Down 1.1 %

Cabot stock opened at $91.68 on Friday. Cabot Co. has a 52 week low of $70.63 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 26.60%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Cabot declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cabot

In related news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total transaction of $4,005,279.57. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,833,749.21. This trade represents a 40.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total transaction of $1,649,599.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,865,099.25. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,190 shares of company stock worth $5,751,534. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CBT. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

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.