Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Trading Down 5.6% – Here’s Why

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) fell 5.6% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $25.82 and last traded at $25.88. 2,713,423 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 9% from the average session volume of 2,973,880 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BTU has been the topic of several recent research reports. B. Riley upped their price objective on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

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

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $295,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BTU. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 79.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 175,424 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $4,693,000 after purchasing an additional 77,525 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 37,826 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 5,361 shares in the last quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $488,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $77,473,000 after acquiring an additional 216,887 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Peabody Energy by 323.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 248,891 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $6,605,000 after purchasing an additional 190,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.