Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $18.00 price target on the coal producer’s stock, down from their previous price target of $30.00.

BTU has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.62.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Peabody Energy

Peabody Energy Price Performance

NYSE BTU opened at $17.45 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.32. Peabody Energy has a 12 month low of $15.69 and a 12 month high of $41.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The coal producer reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 3.55% and a negative return on equity of 4.26%. Peabody Energy’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.58) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post -0.70 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.0750 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is currently -25.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,233,585 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $205,429,000 after purchasing an additional 54,072 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 387.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,556,305 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $35,982,000 after buying an additional 1,236,770 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Peabody Energy during the second quarter valued at about $22,393,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 35.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 740,760 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $24,408,000 after buying an additional 192,153 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Peabody Energy by 2.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 591,021 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $19,474,000 after buying an additional 11,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

About Peabody Energy

(Get Free Report)

Peabody Energy is an international coal company that explores for, mines, and sells coal. Its products include thermal coal, used primarily to generate electricity, and metallurgical coal, which is used in steelmaking. The company operates mining businesses in the United States and Australia and supplies customers in markets around the world. Its activities span coal production, processing, and marketing. Founded in 1883, Peabody has a long history in the coal industry. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BTU.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU)

Receive News & Ratings for Peabody Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Peabody Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.