Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 69.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,802 shares of the coal producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $74,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 21.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,957,602 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $338,611,000 after buying an additional 2,473,286 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,348,251 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $178,118,000 after buying an additional 618,395 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 20.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,165,258 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $70,016,000 after buying an additional 531,440 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 26,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 2.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,352,067 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $29,908,000 after purchasing an additional 38,492 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 2.4 %

BTU opened at $29.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $20.21 and a 1-year high of $29.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.45.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.16. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is presently 7.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BTU shares. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

About Peabody Energy

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.