D.A. Davidson & CO. Takes Position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 18,656 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BTU. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 265,937.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,023,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $212,949,000 after buying an additional 8,020,670 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 113.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,350,855 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $28,287,000 after acquiring an additional 718,274 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Peabody Energy by 7.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $202,546,000 after purchasing an additional 540,219 shares during the period. Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,484,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 547.9% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 273,529 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $7,259,000 after purchasing an additional 231,309 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark lowered their price target on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut 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.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $14.17 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.24. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Peabody Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $14.10 and a 1-year high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 8.75%. Research analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.11%.

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.