Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Receives $37.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.00.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BTU. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on Peabody Energy from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total value of $505,668.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 113,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,129,216. This trade represents a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total transaction of $73,693.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,803.56. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,135,096 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $449,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191,438 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,532,978 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $283,129,000 after purchasing an additional 306,187 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,425,459 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $117,363,000 after purchasing an additional 354,099 shares during the period. Progeny 3 Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 0.5% in the second quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,916,934 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $52,565,000 after buying an additional 18,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,603,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Peabody Energy stock opened at $33.53 on Wednesday. Peabody Energy has a 1 year low of $9.61 and a 1 year high of $39.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.55 and its 200 day moving average is $27.87. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.51 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The coal producer reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 1.37%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is presently -66.67%.

About Peabody Energy

Peabody Energy Corporation is one of the world’s largest private-sector coal companies, engaged primarily in the production and sale of metallurgical and thermal coal. The company’s operations span surface and underground mines, serving utilities, steel mills and other industrial customers that rely on coal as an essential component in power generation and steelmaking. Peabody’s product portfolio includes high-energy thermal coal for electricity generation and low-volatile metallurgical coal used in steel production, reflecting its diverse end-market reach.

Founded in 1883, Peabody Energy has grown from a regional mining concern into a global energy supplier.