Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.00.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BTU shares. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a report on Monday. B. Riley increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Peabody Energy stock opened at $29.54 on Friday. Peabody Energy has a 1-year low of $9.61 and a 1-year high of $35.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of -101.86 and a beta of 0.57.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The coal producer reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.39). Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.25% and a negative net margin of 0.83%.The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $990.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 (DPR) is currently -103.45%.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 1,335.6% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 33,436 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 31,107 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 33.5% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,726 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Peabody Energy by 74.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,484 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 2,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.