Investors Buy High Volume of Put Options on Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU)

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 23,268 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 92% compared to the average volume of 12,106 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BTU. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Benchmark upped their target price on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

In other news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $295,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,710 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 21.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,957,602 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $338,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,286 shares during the last quarter. American International Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 6.9% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 60,783 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $1,475,000 after buying an additional 3,901 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 2,651.2% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 89,002 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after buying an additional 85,767 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 54.8% in the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 9,735 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 5.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 71,949 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 3,823 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

NYSE:BTU opened at $24.25 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $26.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.98. Peabody Energy has a one year low of $20.21 and a one year high of $29.94. 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) last posted 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. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.94%.

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.