Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 1,236,770 Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) by 387.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,556,305 shares of the coal producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,236,770 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 1.28% of Peabody Energy worth $35,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 1,513.7% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,178 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BTU shares. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.88.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of BTU opened at $28.91 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.27 and a beta of 0.34. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $16.46 and a 1-year high of $41.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The coal producer reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.36). Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a negative return on equity of 5.22%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -20.00%.

Peabody Energy Profile

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.