Fifth Third Bancorp Has $1.62 Million Stake in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,698 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 7,091 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Cabot were worth $1,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CBT. Paradiem LLC grew its position in shares of Cabot by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 132,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,078,000 after purchasing an additional 19,903 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 165.5% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,455 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Cabot by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,113 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Cabot by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,198 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company's stock.

Cabot Stock Down 1.0 %

CBT traded down $0.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $86.39. The company had a trading volume of 513,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,329. The business's fifty day moving average price is $96.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Cabot Co. has a 12 month low of $70.63 and a 12 month high of $117.46. The company has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Cabot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.52%.

Insider Activity at Cabot

In related news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total transaction of $4,005,279.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,833,749.21. The trade was a 40.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total transaction of $96,655.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,088,571.08. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534. 3.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CBT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Cabot from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective 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 issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.00.

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.