Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 77,525 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 79.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 175,424 shares of the coal producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,525 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $4,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in 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 valued at $212,949,000 after buying an additional 8,020,670 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 540,219 shares during the period. Progeny 3 Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,580,014 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $95,014,000 after acquiring an additional 56,280 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 20.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,165,258 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $70,016,000 after purchasing an additional 531,440 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.0% in the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE BTU opened at $20.30 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.75. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $20.14 and a 12 month high of $29.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.95.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of 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 raised 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.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.40% 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.