Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $464,000 Position in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) by 51.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,481 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 18,255 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BTU. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,208,031 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $123,572,000 after buying an additional 1,487,531 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 5.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,071,360 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $54,638,000 after acquiring an additional 212,583 shares during the period. Progeny 3 Inc. grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 0.5% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 40,785 shares during the period. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,092,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total transaction of $73,693.26. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,803.56. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU stock opened at $37.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.66 and a 200-day moving average of $25.19. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -130.91 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $9.61 and a 52 week high of $39.95.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $990.20 million. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.25% and a negative net margin of 0.83%.The firm’s revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on BTU shares. Wall Street Zen raised Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.25.

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.