Wall Street Zen Upgrades Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) to “Hold”

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

BTU has been the subject of a number of other reports. Benchmark raised their target price on Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. B. Riley raised their target price on Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Peabody Energy from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Peabody Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of BTU stock opened at $27.47 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67 and a beta of 0.67. Peabody Energy has a fifty-two week low of $9.61 and a fifty-two week high of $35.99.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BTU. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 29.8% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 501,160 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $6,791,000 after buying an additional 115,172 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,518,351 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $20,574,000 after buying an additional 118,307 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the first quarter worth about $156,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 77.1% during the second quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 30,000 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 13,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 145.1% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,725 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 27,069 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Peabody Energy

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.