Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) CAO Sells $73,693.26 in Stock

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) CAO Scott Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total value of $73,693.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,803.56. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

BTU stock traded up $0.30 on Friday, reaching $36.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,060,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,269,024. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $9.61 and a 52 week high of $37.88. The company has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -125.38 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The coal producer reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.39). Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 0.83% and a negative return on equity of 0.25%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $990.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -103.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BTU. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research raised Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.33.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,092,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,208,031 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $123,572,000 after buying an additional 1,487,531 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,039,000. Gate City Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,645,000. Finally, RPG Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the second quarter valued at about $8,243,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

About Peabody Energy

Peabody Energy Corporation is one of the world’s largest private-sector coal companies, engaged primarily in the production and sale of metallurgical and thermal coal. The company’s operations span surface and underground mines, serving utilities, steel mills and other industrial customers that rely on coal as an essential component in power generation and steelmaking. Peabody’s product portfolio includes high-energy thermal coal for electricity generation and low-volatile metallurgical coal used in steel production, reflecting its diverse end-market reach.

Founded in 1883, Peabody Energy has grown from a regional mining concern into a global energy supplier.