Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 18,255 Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) by 51.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,481 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 18,255 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Peabody Energy by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,693 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 45.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,359 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 10,401 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter worth $261,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 64.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,018 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 6,685 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Peabody Energy by 98.6% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,962 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on BTU shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peabody Energy

In other news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total transaction of $73,693.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,803.56. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

NYSE:BTU opened at $37.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $30.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.19. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $9.61 and a 52-week high of $39.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -130.91 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 the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.39). Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 0.83% and a negative return on equity of 0.25%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $990.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

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

Peabody Energy Company Profile

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.