Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $26.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Peabody Energy traded as low as $19.48 and last traded at $19.53, with a volume of 2679146 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.23.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. 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 research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $295,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTU. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 265,937.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,023,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $212,949,000 after buying an additional 8,020,670 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $202,546,000 after acquiring an additional 540,219 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 531,440 shares in the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the third quarter valued at $8,484,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 547.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 273,529 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $7,259,000 after purchasing an additional 231,309 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.11 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.89 and its 200-day moving average is $23.54.

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

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 7.94%.

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.