Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 216,887 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $77,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 265,937.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,023,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $212,949,000 after purchasing an additional 8,020,670 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $202,546,000 after buying an additional 540,219 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 20.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,165,258 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $70,016,000 after buying an additional 531,440 shares in the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Peabody Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,484,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 547.9% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 273,529 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $7,259,000 after acquiring an additional 231,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BTU shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. 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. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $20.63 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.93 and its 200 day moving average is $23.75. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $20.21 and a 52 week high of $29.94. 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 company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.95.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.94%.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 65,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,939,759.20. This trade represents a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.