Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $25.20.

BTU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Peabody Energy from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 29.8% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 501,160 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $6,791,000 after purchasing an additional 115,172 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,518,351 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $20,574,000 after purchasing an additional 118,307 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 77.1% in the second quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 30,000 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 13,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 145.1% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,725 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 27,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

BTU opened at $33.02 on Thursday. Peabody Energy has a 52-week low of $9.61 and a 52-week high of $35.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.05 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.68.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The coal producer reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.43%.The company had revenue of $890.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $944.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 29.13%.

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.