Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Short Interest Up 9.6% in January

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the January 15th total of 2,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 404,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CBT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Cabot from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cabot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Cabot by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,323,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $120,835,000 after acquiring an additional 103,380 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $143,504,000 after purchasing an additional 22,719 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Cabot by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 942,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $86,039,000 after purchasing an additional 53,090 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 845,261 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $77,181,000 after purchasing an additional 55,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Cabot by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 794,477 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $72,544,000 after buying an additional 87,881 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company's stock.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of Cabot stock traded down $2.67 on Thursday, reaching $85.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 553,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,553. Cabot has a 52-week low of $80.70 and a 52-week high of $117.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.19. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.16.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Cabot's payout ratio is currently 22.84%.

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

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.