Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Makes New Investment in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,600 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gendell Jeffrey L raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 2,194,474 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $57,034,000 after purchasing an additional 344,793 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,154,535 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $52,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,261 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,920,570 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $49,916,000 after acquiring an additional 351,103 shares in the last quarter. Hosking Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,362,201 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $35,404,000 after acquiring an additional 112,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,090,494 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $28,342,000 after acquiring an additional 18,109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In related news, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total value of $357,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,114.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total value of $814,850.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,262.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total value of $357,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,279 shares in the company, valued at $619,114.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,806 shares of company stock valued at $1,339,565. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BTU shares. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

NYSE BTU opened at $23.65 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.49. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $17.71 and a 12-month high of $27.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.98.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The coal producer reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.08). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

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.