Investors Buy High Volume of Peabody Energy Call Options (NYSE:BTU)

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 16,617 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 59% compared to the typical volume of 10,476 call options.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $18.92. 1,792,990 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,210,826. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.80 and its 200 day moving average is $23.37. Peabody Energy has a 1-year low of $17.73 and a 1-year high of $29.94. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.99.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $295,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. This trade represents a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 79.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 175,424 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $4,693,000 after acquiring an additional 77,525 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,714,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $77,473,000 after purchasing an additional 216,887 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $202,546,000 after purchasing an additional 540,219 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 167.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 200,073 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $5,310,000 after buying an additional 125,244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BTU. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation engages in coal mining business in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, India, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, France, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, and internationally. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal, Seaborne Metallurgical, Powder River Basin, Other U.S.