Peabody Energy Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BTU)

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 49,189 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 314% compared to the average daily volume of 11,889 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. B. Riley increased their price objective on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

NYSE BTU opened at $25.42 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Peabody Energy has a 1 year low of $20.21 and a 1 year high of $27.24.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The coal producer reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.90. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 11,390.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,149 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Natixis boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 8,355.0% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 1,691 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 292.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.