Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Trading 6.2% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)’s stock price rose 6.2% during trading on Monday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $28.70 and last traded at $29.1150. Approximately 731,704 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,882,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.42.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 10,831 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,982 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 284,141 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $7,535,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 22,478 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,733 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

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’s 50 day moving average is $25.13 and its 200-day moving average is $18.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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, Germany, and internationally. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal, Seaborne Metallurgical, Powder River Basin, Other U.S.