Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Price Target Raised to $34.50

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its price objective upped by UBS Group from $34.00 to $34.50 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the coal producer’s stock.

BTU has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.38.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Peabody Energy stock opened at $34.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.68. Peabody Energy has a fifty-two week low of $9.61 and a fifty-two week high of $39.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.12 and a beta of 0.54.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Peabody Energy news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total transaction of $505,668.80. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total value of $73,693.26. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 82,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,803.56. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,328 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Regal Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth $6,309,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 548,607 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $16,294,000 after buying an additional 126,805 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $471,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

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.