Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) COO Darren Ronald Yeates Sells 13,892 Shares

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total value of $505,668.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 113,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,129,216. The trade was a 10.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 4.6%

NYSE BTU opened at $35.08 on Friday. Peabody Energy Corporation has a one year low of $9.61 and a one year high of $39.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.96 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.14.

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

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a $0.075 dividend. 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on BTU shares. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.20.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BTU. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $241,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 141.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 33,609 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 19,711 shares during the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $506,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Peabody Energy by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 342,456 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $10,171,000 after purchasing an additional 58,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.