Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Short Interest Down 13.1% in November

by · The Markets Daily

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU – Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,650,000 shares, a drop of 13.1% from the October 31st total of 15,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 65,710 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,759.20. The trade was a 13.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BTU. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Peabody Energy by 11,390.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,149 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 292.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BTU. B. Riley upped their price target 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. Benchmark increased their target price on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on BTU

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Peabody Energy stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,822,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,027,004. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.89. Peabody Energy has a one year low of $20.21 and a one year high of $29.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.98. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.94%.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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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