Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 728,163 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $16,835,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.60% of Peabody Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Peabody Energy during the second quarter worth $435,691,000. Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the second quarter valued at $28,092,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 19.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,208,031 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $123,572,000 after buying an additional 1,487,531 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $38,125,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,135,096 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $449,512,000 after buying an additional 1,191,438 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 1.3%

BTU opened at $27.53 on Wednesday. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $16.21 and a 12 month high of $41.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.35 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.10.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The coal producer reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 4.56%.Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -20.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.88.

Peabody Energy 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.