Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Sets New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $26.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Peabody Energy traded as low as $19.48 and last traded at $19.53, with a volume of 2679146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.23.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on BTU. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $295,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. The trade was a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BTU. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $368,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Peabody Energy by 79.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 175,424 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $4,693,000 after purchasing an additional 77,525 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 37,826 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,361 shares in the last quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $488,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $77,473,000 after purchasing an additional 216,887 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 3.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.00 and its 200-day moving average is $23.56.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 7.94%.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation engages in coal mining business in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, India, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, France, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, and internationally. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal, Seaborne Metallurgical, Powder River Basin, Other U.S.