Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Position Boosted by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 57.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 8,995 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Cabot were worth $2,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CBT. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cabot by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $143,504,000 after acquiring an additional 22,719 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $69,521,000 after purchasing an additional 135,119 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Cabot by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $64,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Cabot by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 355,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $39,716,000 after buying an additional 41,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Cabot by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 178,431 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $16,293,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company's stock.

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Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CBT traded down $0.38 on Friday, hitting $82.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 338,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,104. Cabot Co. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $117.46. The stock's 50-day moving average is $86.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.93. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21.

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

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

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Cabot's payout ratio is 22.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CBT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.00.

About Cabot

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.