Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Shares Up 3.5%

Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) shot up 3.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $23.83 and last traded at $23.74. 1,413,385 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 3,779,381 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BTU. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Friday.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 5.1 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.54. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.66 EPS 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 dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is presently 6.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $167,714.82. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,464 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,150.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total transaction of $357,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,279 shares in the company, valued at $619,114.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,806 shares of company stock worth $1,339,565. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BTU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,873,533 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $193,137,000 after acquiring an additional 2,595,279 shares during the period. First Republic Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 2,249.0% during the 1st quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,104,738 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $51,629,000 after buying an additional 2,015,138 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 2,630.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,189,512 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $30,452,000 after buying an additional 1,145,947 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,379,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 106.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,154,535 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $52,398,000 after buying an additional 1,109,261 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.