Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by StockNews.com

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CBT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cabot from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of CBT traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $86.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 288,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 385,780. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Cabot has a fifty-two week low of $80.21 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46.

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

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in Cabot in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Cabot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Cabot by 53.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cabot by 197.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Cabot by 35.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 564 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.