Elliott Investment Management Sells 489,643 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Stock

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 489,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.69, for a total transaction of $11,599,642.67. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,250,000 shares in the company, valued at $479,722,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Elliott Investment Management also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, November 15th, Elliott Investment Management sold 346,187 shares of Peabody Energy stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.29, for a total transaction of $8,062,695.23.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 3.6 %

BTU stock opened at $23.79 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.11 and its 200 day moving average is $22.32. Peabody Energy Co. has a one year low of $17.71 and a one year high of $32.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.30.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The coal producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 22.47% and a return on equity of 28.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 9th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 8th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BTU. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 323.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in Peabody Energy during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Peabody Energy during the first quarter worth about $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 84.5% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Peabody Energy during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 82.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BTU. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th.

Peabody Energy Company 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, and internationally. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal Mining, Seaborne Metallurgical Mining, Powder River Basin Mining, and Other U.S.