Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Price Target Lowered to $32.00 at B. Riley

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its price target lowered by B. Riley from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the coal producer’s stock.

Separately, Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Friday.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:BTU opened at $22.94 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $24.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.54. Peabody Energy has a 52 week low of $17.71 and a 52 week high of $27.70. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 0.98.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The coal producer reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total value of $167,714.82. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,150.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Peabody Energy news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total transaction of $814,850.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,262.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total value of $167,714.82. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,150.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,806 shares of company stock worth $1,339,565 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,337,844 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $281,406,000 after acquiring an additional 397,931 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,371,250 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $181,321,000 after acquiring an additional 420,514 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,147,834 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $173,838,000 after acquiring an additional 273,768 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,729,856 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $163,968,000 after acquiring an additional 437,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,215,026 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $159,105,000 after acquiring an additional 649,904 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Peabody Energy

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.