Vontobel Holding Ltd. Purchases 19,800 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 52.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,800 shares of the coal producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,800 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $1,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 139.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,756 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 69.7% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on BTU shares. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

NYSE BTU opened at $16.22 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.63. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Peabody Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $15.79 and a twelve month high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. On average, research analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 11.11%.

About Peabody Energy

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.