Ranmore Fund Management Ltd Raises Stock Position in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

Ranmore Fund Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) by 26.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 496,089 shares of the coal producer’s stock after buying an additional 102,216 shares during the period. Peabody Energy accounts for 2.7% of Ranmore Fund Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Ranmore Fund Management Ltd’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $6,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 96.7% in the 1st quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,789,858 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $24,253,000 after purchasing an additional 879,800 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,406,307 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $19,055,000 after purchasing an additional 760,155 shares in the last quarter. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $9,196,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $9,083,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 698.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 738,425 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $10,006,000 after buying an additional 645,934 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BTU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley upped their price target on Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

NYSE BTU opened at $29.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $9.61 and a 1-year high of $35.99. The company has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 0.50.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The coal producer reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.39). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $990.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is -103.45%.

Peabody Energy 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.