Amalgamated Bank Raises Position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,065 shares of the coal producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,059 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,023 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Peabody Energy by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 10,523 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 11,390.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,149 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 69.7% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $295,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU opened at $27.04 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 0.98. Peabody Energy Co. has a one year low of $20.21 and a one year high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.