Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) was upgraded by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $26.00 price objective on the coal producer’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.24% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BTU. B. Riley upped their price target on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:BTU opened at $21.45 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.26 and a 200-day moving average of $23.82. Peabody Energy has a one year low of $20.21 and a one year high of $29.94. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Peabody Energy

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $295,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,710 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,759.20. The trade was a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 79.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 175,424 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $4,693,000 after purchasing an additional 77,525 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 16.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 37,826 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $1,037,000 after buying an additional 5,361 shares during the period. Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $488,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $77,473,000 after acquiring an additional 216,887 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 323.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 248,891 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $6,605,000 after acquiring an additional 190,120 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.