Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Hits New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $26.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Peabody Energy traded as low as $19.48 and last traded at $19.53, with a volume of 2679146 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.23.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on BTU. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In other news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $295,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BTU. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,023 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 43.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 69.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 145,613 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $3,865,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 3.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.56.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.16. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.94%.

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.