Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 59,789 Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 474,298 shares of the coal producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,789 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.39% of Peabody Energy worth $12,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 197.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 581,931 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $16,457,000 after buying an additional 386,470 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the third quarter worth about $1,830,000. Steinberganna Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,555,000. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $772,000. Finally, Gate City Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Peabody Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,645,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of BTU opened at $34.35 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.43. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.33 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Corporation 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 EPS 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 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%.Peabody Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peabody Energy news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 113,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,129,216. This trade represents a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark increased their target price on Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

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.