Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.3750.

BTU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on Peabody Energy from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Peabody Energy from $34.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total value of $73,693.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 82,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,803.56. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total transaction of $505,668.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 113,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,129,216. This trade represents a 10.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $90,603,000. Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,092,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Peabody Energy by 19.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,208,031 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $123,572,000 after buying an additional 1,487,531 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new position in Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth $38,125,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,191,438 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $34.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.12 and a beta of 0.54. Peabody Energy has a 52 week low of $9.61 and a 52 week high of $39.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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.