Cabot (CBT) Competitors

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

Is WLK or CBT a better dividend stock?

Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Cabot pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Westlake pays out 295.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cabot pays out 22.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Westlake has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years and Cabot has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Cabot is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility & risk, WLK or CBT?

Westlake has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cabot has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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

28.4% of Westlake shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of Cabot shares are owned by institutional investors. 74.1% of Westlake shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Cabot shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to WLK or CBT?

In the previous week, Westlake had 4 more articles in the media than Cabot. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Westlake and 6 mentions for Cabot. Cabot's average media sentiment score of 1.18 beat Westlake's score of 0.96 indicating that Cabot is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Westlake	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cabot	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WLK or CBT 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
Westlake	0.81%	6.93%	3.61%
Cabot	10.60%	26.79%	11.24%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, WLK or CBT?

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
Westlake	$12.55B	1.14	$479M	$0.71	156.60
Cabot	$3.99B	1.16	$380M	$7.53	11.38

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WLK or CBT?

Westlake received 73 more outperform votes than Cabot when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 61.77% of users gave Cabot an outperform vote while only 57.28% of users gave Westlake an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Westlake	Outperform Votes 464 57.28%	Underperform Votes 346 42.72%
Cabot	Outperform Votes 391 61.77%	Underperform Votes 242 38.23%

Do analysts prefer WLK or CBT?

Westlake currently has a consensus price target of $155.79, suggesting a potential upside of 40.11%. Cabot has a consensus price target of $102.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.05%. Given Westlake's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Westlake is more favorable than Cabot.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
Cabot	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Summary

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