Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 187,353 shares of the coal producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,929 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.15% of Peabody Energy worth $3,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 24,556 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,514 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BTU shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Benchmark reduced their price target on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Peabody Energy stock opened at $12.74 on Friday. Peabody Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $9.61 and a fifty-two week high of $29.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.52.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.11%.

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.