Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Sets New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $26.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Peabody Energy traded as low as $19.48 and last traded at $19.53, with a volume of 2679146 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.23.

BTU has been the topic of several other reports. B. Riley upped their target price on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Benchmark increased their price objective on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 79.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 175,424 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $4,693,000 after acquiring an additional 77,525 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,714,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 8.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $77,473,000 after purchasing an additional 216,887 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $202,546,000 after purchasing an additional 540,219 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 167.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 200,073 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $5,310,000 after buying an additional 125,244 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 3.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.99. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.56.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.16. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.94%.

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.