Cabot (CBT) Competitors

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) and Westlake (NYSE:WLK) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk, community ranking, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Is CBT or WLK a better dividend stock?

Cabot pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Cabot pays out 22.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Westlake pays out 45.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Cabot has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Westlake has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Westlake is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor CBT or WLK?

In the previous week, Westlake had 5 more articles in the media than Cabot. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Westlake and 7 mentions for Cabot. Cabot's average media sentiment score of 1.25 beat Westlake's score of 0.58 indicating that Cabot is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cabot	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Westlake	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CBT or WLK?

93.2% of Cabot shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.4% of Westlake shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Cabot shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 74.1% of Westlake shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is CBT or WLK more profitable?

Cabot has a net margin of 10.60% compared to Westlake's net margin of 0.81%. Cabot's return on equity of 26.79% beat Westlake's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cabot	10.60%	26.79%	11.24%
Westlake	0.81%	6.93%	3.61%

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, CBT or WLK?

Westlake has higher revenue and earnings than Cabot. Cabot is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westlake, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cabot	$3.99B	1.14	$380M	$7.53	11.10
Westlake	$12.14B	1.07	$479M	$4.63	21.89

Do analysts prefer CBT or WLK?

Cabot currently has a consensus price target of $97.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.03%. Westlake has a consensus price target of $140.07, indicating a potential upside of 38.23%. Given Westlake's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Westlake is more favorable than Cabot.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cabot	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Westlake	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CBT or WLK?

Westlake received 77 more outperform votes than Cabot when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 61.57% of users gave Cabot an outperform vote while only 57.14% of users gave Westlake an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Cabot	Outperform Votes 391 61.57%	Underperform Votes 244 38.43%
Westlake	Outperform Votes 468 57.14%	Underperform Votes 351 42.86%

Which has more volatility and risk, CBT or WLK?

Cabot has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westlake has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Westlake beats Cabot on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.