Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Given New $44.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its target price upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the coal producer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on BTU. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.25.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE:BTU opened at $37.22 on Tuesday. Peabody Energy has a 12-month low of $9.61 and a 12-month high of $37.88. 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 50 day simple moving average is $30.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.84. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -128.36 and a beta of 0.41.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted 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 negative net margin of 0.83% and a negative return on equity of 0.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -103.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peabody Energy news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total transaction of $73,693.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 82,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,803.56. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 197.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 581,931 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $16,457,000 after purchasing an additional 386,470 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in Peabody Energy during the third quarter worth about $1,830,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 225.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 33,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 23,327 shares during the last quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,645,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 583,539 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $7,831,000 after acquiring an additional 57,900 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.