Peabody Energy Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BTU)

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 21,779 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 94% compared to the typical volume of 11,255 call options.

Insider Activity

In other Peabody Energy news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total transaction of $73,693.26. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 82,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,803.56. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 763.4% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Peabody Energy by 258.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,607 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 104.3% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 57.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Peabody Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Peabody Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Centurion mine ramping ahead of schedule and company says key operational and financial metrics met or exceeded full‑year 2025 guidance — this supports near‑term cash flow expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Board declared a quarterly common dividend of $0.075 per share (payable March 10; ex‑dividend Feb 23), which can attract income‑oriented investors and supports the stock’s appeal amid recent gains. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 earnings materials and transcripts are available for investors digging into detail; these provide management commentary on production, pricing (coking coal tailwinds) and the Centurion ramp. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary notes BTU has strongly outperformed the past year (roughly +95% cited), which reduces near‑term upside potential for some investors given elevated valuation metrics. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results: EPS of $0.09 missed consensus by $0.01 and revenue fell ~9% year‑over‑year; the company reported a slim net margin and very low ROE, which could weigh on sentiment if margins don’t improve. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded BTU from “hold” to “strong sell,” which may pressure sentiment among some retail and institutional holders despite the operational positives. Read More.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 8.5%

BTU traded up $2.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.14. 1,481,305 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,116,697. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of -127.53 and a beta of 0.52. Peabody Energy has a one year low of $9.61 and a one year high of $39.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The coal producer reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.25% and a negative net margin of 0.83%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -103.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BTU. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Benchmark upped their target price on Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

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.