Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Short Interest Up 28.2% in February

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,800,000 shares, a growth of 28.2% from the February 13th total of 11,540,000 shares. Currently, 12.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark dropped their price target on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

BTU stock traded up $0.84 on Tuesday, reaching $14.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,275,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,845,636. Peabody Energy has a 52 week low of $12.15 and a 52 week high of $29.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. As a group, analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is currently 11.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 111 Capital bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth $289,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth $5,162,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth $1,742,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 162,948 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $3,412,000 after acquiring an additional 17,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 187.6% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 35,081 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 22,884 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.