B. Riley Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Stock Price

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its price target dropped by B. Riley Financial from $43.00 to $42.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the coal producer’s stock. B. Riley Financial’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 27.94% from the company’s previous close.

BTU has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Peabody Energy from $34.50 to $36.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of Peabody Energy stock opened at $32.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of -72.95 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.36. Peabody Energy has a fifty-two week low of $9.61 and a fifty-two week high of $41.14.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The coal producer reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 1.37%.The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peabody Energy news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of Peabody Energy 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,803.56. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total value of $505,668.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 113,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,129,216. The trade was a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,693 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,359 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 10,401 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 274,537 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after buying an additional 7,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 1.1% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 312,916 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after buying an additional 3,374 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Peabody Energy

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.