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

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day 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 equities research analysts also recently issued reports on BTU. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $295,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,939,759.20. The trade was a 13.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased 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 third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $202,546,000 after buying an additional 540,219 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $70,016,000 after buying an additional 531,440 shares during the period. Yaupon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,484,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 547.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 273,529 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $7,259,000 after purchasing an additional 231,309 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.00 and a 200 day moving average of $23.56. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Peabody Energy’s dividend 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.