Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Peabody Energy Call Options (NYSE:BTU)

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 20,512 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 66% compared to the average daily volume of 12,364 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,348,251 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $178,118,000 after buying an additional 618,395 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,019,000. Comerica Bank increased its position in Peabody Energy by 580.4% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 54,153 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 46,194 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Peabody Energy by 266.2% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 93,627 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $2,271,000 after purchasing an additional 68,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Peabody Energy by 25.6% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 40,236 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 8,193 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Peabody Energy in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Peabody Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

NYSE BTU opened at $23.49 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.97. Peabody Energy has a 12-month low of $20.66 and a 12-month high of $27.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.12.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The coal producer reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.03 million. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 11.62% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

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.