Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Stock Price Up 6.3% – Here’s What Happened

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)’s stock price shot up 6.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $26.50 and last traded at $26.64. 628,262 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 3,122,552 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a report on Friday, September 18th. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.88.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of -17.64 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.17.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The coal producer reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.36). Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a negative return on equity of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -20.00%.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 93,197 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $2,155,000 after purchasing an additional 16,561 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Peabody Energy by 49.2% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 17,381 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 5,735 shares during the period. Nwam LLC lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 43.7% in the second quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 112,808 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $2,608,000 after buying an additional 34,307 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Advisors Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the second quarter valued at $1,081,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 3.0% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 147,479 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $3,410,000 after acquiring an additional 4,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

About Peabody Energy

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.