Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Price Target Lowered to $85.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) had its price target trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $105.00 to $85.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

Cabot Trading Down 1.1 %

CBT opened at $84.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Cabot has a 12 month low of $81.24 and a 12 month high of $117.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.04.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is 22.84%.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cabot

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Cabot by 103.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,699,000 after acquiring an additional 57,907 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Cabot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $654,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 40,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,688,000 after purchasing an additional 6,950 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at $1,269,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot during the third quarter worth $609,000. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.