BMO Capital Markets Boosts Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Price Target to $26.00

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the coal producer’s stock.

Separately, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of BTU opened at $27.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Peabody Energy has a 1-year low of $20.21 and a 1-year high of $27.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.17.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The coal producer reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.90. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 21.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,957,602 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $338,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,286 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,348,251 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $178,118,000 after acquiring an additional 618,395 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 20.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,165,258 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $70,016,000 after acquiring an additional 531,440 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,190,141 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $48,446,000 after acquiring an additional 26,202 shares during the period. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 483.0% in the first quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 2,024,769 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $49,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677,448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.