Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Stock Price Down 3.2% – Time to Sell?

by · The Markets Daily

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded down 3.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $20.82 and last traded at $20.85. 1,941,505 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 2,949,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley raised their price objective on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 1st.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on BTU

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 5.46 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.75.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.94%.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. The trade was a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 9.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.6% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,023 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Peabody Energy

(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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