UPDATE 1-Cabot Oil & Gas Q3 profit lags market estimates

* Q3 adj shr $0.34 vs est of $0.35

* Q3 rev up 17 pct

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Gas focused explorer Cabot Oil and Gas Corp posted its first estimate lagging profit in three quarters, hurt by lower commodity prices and higher exploration costs.

For the July-September period, the company's net income was $28.5 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with 3.9 million, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company reported a profit of 34 cents a share. Revenue rose 17 percent to $262.1 million.

Analysts were expecting the Houston-based Cabot to come in with a profit of 35 cents a share, on revenue of $270 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Cabot's exploration costs for the quarter more than doubled, while its natural gas realised prices fell 17 percent compared to last year's third quarter.

Shares of Cabot closed at $66.84 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.