Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.8750.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. 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 reduced 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, Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

BTU opened at $28.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.18 and its 200-day moving average is $27.60. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of -18.83 and a beta of 0.34. Peabody Energy has a twelve month low of $18.20 and a twelve month high of $41.14.

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

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given 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 was Wednesday, August 12th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is -20.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 1.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,693 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,359 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 10,401 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $261,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 291,577 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $3,913,000 after purchasing an additional 51,384 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 742.1% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 281,576 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $3,779,000 after buying an additional 248,140 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) is a global coal producer and energy company. It primarily mines and sells thermal coal, which is used for electricity generation, and metallurgical coal, which is used in steelmaking. The company also markets and trades coal and provides related services, including coal transportation and land management.

Peabody operates mining assets in the United States and Australia and serves utility, industrial and steelmaking customers in domestic and international markets.