Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., the best performer last year in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, tumbled after natural-gas futures declined to the lowest price in almost 10 years.
Cabot, based in Houston, dropped 6.5 percent to $63.09 at the close in New York. Earlier, the stock fell as much as 7.5 percent to $62.40.
Natural gas for February delivery declined 15 cents to settle at $2.322 per million British thermal units in New York, the lowest settlement price since Feb. 25, 2002.
Cabot shares doubled in 2011 to $75.90 as output rose. The company this month announced a stock split and dividend increase after more than doubling gas output from the Marcellus Shale in a year.
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