Polaris Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Polaris Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Free Report) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. Polaris Capital Management LLC's holdings in Cabot were worth $1,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in shares of Cabot during 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. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CBT traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $86.74. The company had a trading volume of 203,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,537. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $91.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.19. Cabot Co. has a 1 year low of $80.21 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Cabot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CBT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lowered 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cabot from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cabot has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Cabot 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.