Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Receives $38.38 Average Target Price from Analysts

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.3750.

BTU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research lowered Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Peabody Energy from $34.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Peabody Energy stock opened at $35.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $34.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.03. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -78.55 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Peabody Energy has a 1 year low of $9.61 and a 1 year high of $39.95.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The coal producer reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 1.37%.The business’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -66.67%.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In related news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total transaction of $505,668.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 113,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,129,216. This represents a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,803.56. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTU. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 104.3% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 763.4% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 258.7% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,607 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.