Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT) Announces $0.45 Quarterly Dividend

Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Friday, March 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th.

Cabot has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Cabot has a payout ratio of 22.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Cabot to earn $8.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.5%.

Cabot Trading Up 0.1%

CBT stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.97. 139,846 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 443,596. Cabot has a one year low of $58.33 and a one year high of $89.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.64.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $899.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.02 million. Cabot had a return on equity of 24.55% and a net margin of 8.91%.Cabot’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CBT. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Cabot from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Cabot in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cabot in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Cabot from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Cabot from $75.00 to $54.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cabot has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.25.

Cabot Company Profile

Cabot Corporation is a global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1882 by Godfrey Lowell Cabot, the company has grown into a diversified manufacturer with operations across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Cabot serves a wide range of end markets, including automotive, industrial, energy, and consumer products, supplying essential ingredients that enhance performance, durability and functionality.

The company operates two primary segments: Reinforcement Materials and Performance Materials.