Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.6250.

Several brokerages have weighed in on BTU. UBS Group increased their price target on Peabody Energy from $34.50 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on Peabody Energy from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of BTU opened at $28.43 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.18 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.85. Peabody Energy has a fifty-two week low of $11.58 and a fifty-two week high of $41.14.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The coal producer reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 1.37%.Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -66.67%.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

In other news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total transaction of $73,693.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,306 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,803.56. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total value of $505,668.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 113,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,129,216. This trade represents a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 104.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 763.4% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.