Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.75.

BTU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Peabody Energy by 10.0% during the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 44,000 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,478,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $191,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $589,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $1,727,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE BTU opened at $30.39 on Tuesday. Peabody Energy has a 12 month low of $9.61 and a 12 month high of $35.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.63. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -104.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $990.20 million. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.25% and a negative net margin of 0.83%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

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

About Peabody Energy

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.