State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 27.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,688 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 31,060 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $1,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Peabody Energy by 21.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,957,602 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $338,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,286 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in Peabody Energy by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,348,251 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $178,118,000 after purchasing an additional 618,395 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Peabody Energy by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,190,141 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $48,446,000 after purchasing an additional 26,202 shares during the period. Thomist Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 483.0% in the 1st quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 2,024,769 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $49,121,000 after buying an additional 1,677,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,352,067 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $29,908,000 after buying an additional 38,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of 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

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $24.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $20.21 and a 12 month high of $27.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 0.95.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The coal producer reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 15.35%. As a group, analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 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.