JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Stock Price

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $105.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CBT. StockNews.com upgraded Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho dropped their price target 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.00.

Cabot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CBT opened at $84.56 on Friday. Cabot has a twelve month low of $81.24 and a twelve month high of $117.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $89.47 and its 200-day moving average is $101.04. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.19.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.84%.

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cabot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,961,000. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cabot in the third quarter valued at $19,643,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 349,369 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,901,000 after buying an additional 141,050 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,521,000 after buying an additional 135,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 8.5% during the 4th 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 period. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cabot Company 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.