Arizona State Retirement System Sells 308 Shares of Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its position in shares of Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,603 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 308 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Cabot were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at $5,057,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Cabot in the 4th quarter worth about $458,000. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Cabot by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Cabot by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 23,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Cabot during the 4th quarter valued at about $247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE:CBT opened at $74.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Cabot Corporation has a 12-month low of $71.64 and a 12-month high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.04. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.76% and a net margin of 11.08%. The firm had revenue of $936.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cabot Corporation 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 Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Cabot’s payout ratio is 23.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CBT. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Cabot from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

Cabot 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.