Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $15.75 Million Position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 593,570 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 15,352 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Peabody Energy worth $15,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $976,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Peabody Energy by 12.3% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 37,065 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 4,059 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Peabody Energy in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position 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 worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the third quarter worth about $253,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BTU. Benchmark raised their target price on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley upped their price objective on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $26.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.59. Peabody Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $20.21 and a twelve month high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly 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. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.94%.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $295,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. This trade represents 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 accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.