Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Stock Price Down 10.7% – Time to Sell?

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) shares dropped 10.7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $34.72 and last traded at $35.2630. Approximately 3,781,973 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 13% from the average daily volume of 3,357,349 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTU has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Peabody Energy from $34.50 to $36.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.88.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $35.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.13. The stock has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -79.14 and a beta of 0.54.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 1.37%.Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total value of $73,693.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 82,306 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,129,216. This trade represents a 10.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BTU. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 104.3% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 763.4% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Peabody Energy by 258.7% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,607 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.