Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.6250.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings cut Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut Peabody Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 113,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,129,216. The trade was a 10.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 104.3% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 763.4% during the 3rd 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. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 258.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,607 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 0.0%

Peabody Energy stock opened at $26.53 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.95 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy has a twelve month low of $12.49 and a twelve month high of $41.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.58.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The coal producer reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 1.37%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is presently -66.67%.

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.