Short Interest in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Declines By 15.3%

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,940,000 shares, a decrease of 15.3% from the February 28th total of 3,470,000 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 441,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Cabot by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 18,238 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,665,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Cabot by 0.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 50,221 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,614,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Cabot Stock Performance

Cabot stock traded down $1.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $78.39. The stock had a trading volume of 702,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,238. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $84.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.38. Cabot has a 12 month low of $75.51 and a 12 month high of $117.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.04.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 predict that Cabot will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cabot's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CBT shares. StockNews.com raised Cabot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.