Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Price Target to $26.00

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $30.00 to $26.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the coal producer’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 28.52% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley upped their price objective 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. Benchmark upped their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

NYSE BTU opened at $20.23 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.56. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.99. 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 has a 52 week low of $19.58 and a 52 week high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.16. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 9.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,023 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 43.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 69.7% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Peabody Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 145,613 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $3,865,000 after buying an additional 1,242 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.