Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $44.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Peabody Energy traded as high as $37.89 and last traded at $37.7560, with a volume of 8099 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.14.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BTU. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research raised Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peabody Energy

In other news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total value of $73,693.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 82,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,803.56. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 19.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,208,031 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $123,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487,531 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Peabody Energy by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,425,459 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $117,363,000 after purchasing an additional 354,099 shares during the last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,916,934 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $52,565,000 after purchasing an additional 18,920 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $90,603,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,009,472 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $40,395,000 after buying an additional 40,785 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 0.7%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of -132.90 and a beta of 0.41.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The coal producer reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $990.20 million. Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 0.83% and a negative return on equity of 0.25%. Peabody Energy’s revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -103.45%.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation is one of the world’s largest private-sector coal companies, engaged primarily in the production and sale of metallurgical and thermal coal. The company’s operations span surface and underground mines, serving utilities, steel mills and other industrial customers that rely on coal as an essential component in power generation and steelmaking. Peabody’s product portfolio includes high-energy thermal coal for electricity generation and low-volatile metallurgical coal used in steel production, reflecting its diverse end-market reach.

Founded in 1883, Peabody Energy has grown from a regional mining concern into a global energy supplier.