Zacks Research Upgrades Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) to Hold

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on BTU. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a report on Friday, September 18th. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.88.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 3.0%

NYSE BTU opened at $24.39 on Monday. Peabody Energy has a 52 week low of $20.06 and a 52 week high of $41.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of -16.26 and a beta of 0.34.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The coal producer reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a negative return on equity of 5.22%. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,556,305 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $35,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,770 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Peabody Energy in the second quarter valued at about $22,393,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 331.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,211,411 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $39,916,000 after acquiring an additional 930,451 shares during the period. Apis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,207,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 1,139.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 328,139 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $10,812,000 after acquiring an additional 301,661 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) is a global coal producer and energy company. It primarily mines and sells thermal coal, which is used for electricity generation, and metallurgical coal, which is used in steelmaking. The company also markets and trades coal and provides related services, including coal transportation and land management.

Peabody operates mining assets in the United States and Australia and serves utility, industrial and steelmaking customers in domestic and international markets.