Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Given New $24.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $25.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the coal producer’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential upside of 8.79% from the stock’s previous close.

BTU has been the subject of several other reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Friday. B. Riley cut their target price on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of Peabody Energy stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.06. The stock had a trading volume of 3,446,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,654,571. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 1.01. Peabody Energy has a 12 month low of $17.71 and a 12 month high of $27.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $24.19 and its 200 day moving average is $24.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The coal producer reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.30. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The company had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $167,714.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,150.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $167,714.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,150.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total transaction of $357,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,114.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,806 shares of company stock worth $1,339,565 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $261,000. Hosking Partners LLP raised its position in Peabody Energy by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,362,201 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $35,404,000 after purchasing an additional 112,092 shares during the period. Gendell Jeffrey L raised its position in Peabody Energy by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 2,194,474 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $57,034,000 after purchasing an additional 344,793 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Peabody Energy by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,306 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Peabody Energy by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 787,687 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $20,472,000 after purchasing an additional 55,131 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

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.