3,000 Shares in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Bought by Delta Financial Group Inc.

Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 35.6% in the 3rd 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 period. Creative Planning raised its position in Cabot by 63.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,363 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 6,749 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Cabot by 24.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 40,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after acquiring an additional 7,999 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Cabot by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 81,172 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,073,000 after purchasing an additional 10,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cabot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Price Performance

Cabot stock opened at $84.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $89.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.19. Cabot Co. has a 1 year low of $81.24 and a 1 year high of $117.46.

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

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

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.