By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU – Get Free Report) was down 3.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $20.82 and last traded at $20.85. Approximately 1,941,505 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 2,949,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.55.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have recently commented on BTU shares. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th.
View Our Latest Analysis on BTU
Peabody Energy Trading Down 4.6 %
The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.32.
Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.94%.
Insider Activity at Peabody Energy
In other news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $295,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,710 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 265,937.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,023,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $212,949,000 after acquiring an additional 8,020,670 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $202,546,000 after purchasing an additional 540,219 shares in the last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. increased its position in Peabody Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,580,014 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $95,014,000 after purchasing an additional 56,280 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,165,258 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $70,016,000 after purchasing an additional 531,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 216,887 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.
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