Should You Investigate Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT) At US$74.68?

Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT), is not the largest company out there, but it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$83.66 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$68.10. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Cabot's current trading price of US$74.68 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Cabot’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

Check out our latest analysis for Cabot

Is Cabot Still Cheap?

According to my price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. I’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 13.31x is currently trading in-line with its industry peers’ ratio, which means if you buy Cabot today, you’d be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Cabot’s share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What kind of growth will Cabot generate?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 38% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Cabot. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? CBT’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at CBT? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on CBT, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for CBT, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Cabot you should know about.

If you are no longer interested in Cabot, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.