Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) reached a new 52-week low during 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.23.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on BTU. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 65,710 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,759.20. This trade represents a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Peabody Energy by 265,937.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,023,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $212,949,000 after acquiring an additional 8,020,670 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.6% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. raised its position in Peabody Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,580,014 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $95,014,000 after purchasing an additional 56,280 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Peabody Energy by 20.2% in the 2nd 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 stake in Peabody Energy by 8.0% in 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 during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.16. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 1.55%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.