Short Interest in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Rises By 6.9%

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,700,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the March 31st total of 1,590,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 316,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Cabot Trading Up 0.9 %

CBT traded up $0.79 during trading on Thursday, reaching $92.75. 25,428 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 298,694. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Cabot has a one year low of $63.73 and a one year high of $98.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.27.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $958.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $927.28 million. Cabot had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 11.24%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cabot will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cabot

In related news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 55,233 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $4,413,669.03. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 97,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,767,331.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,361,129 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $440,635,000 after acquiring an additional 24,961 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Cabot by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,908,495 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $340,011,000 after buying an additional 20,589 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,167,091 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $219,384,000 after buying an additional 66,422 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,254 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $109,664,000 after buying an additional 32,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 812,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $67,854,000 after acquiring an additional 205,582 shares in the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CBT shares. Mizuho began coverage on Cabot in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group cut Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.17.

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.