Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $113.36 and last traded at $113.18, with a volume of 42911 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Cabot from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.75.

Cabot Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.90 and a 200-day moving average of $99.29. The firm has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.19.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. Cabot had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 26.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cabot

In other news, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $2,601,406.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,630,719.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 23,274 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.79, for a total transaction of $2,322,512.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,968,839.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sean D. Keohane sold 25,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $2,601,406.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,630,719.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,939 shares of company stock worth $7,308,812. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBT. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cabot in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 53.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Cabot by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Cabot by 33.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Cabot in the second quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

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.