Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Receives $34.12 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.1250.

BTU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. B. Riley Financial cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $22.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.87. Peabody Energy has a fifty-two week low of $14.25 and a fifty-two week high of $41.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of -23.22 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.93 and a 200-day moving average of $30.00.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The coal producer reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.40). Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 3.07% and a negative return on equity of 2.80%. The company had revenue of $973.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $977.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -30.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares in the last quarter. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the first quarter worth about $3,463,000. Wealth High Governance Asset Management Ltda. purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the first quarter worth about $2,959,000. Rathbones Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the first quarter worth about $240,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 279.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 148,965 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $4,908,000 after purchasing an additional 109,678 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.