Old West Investment Management LLC Invests $488,000 in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 18,390 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 11,390.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,149 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Peabody Energy during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Peabody Energy by 292.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark boosted their price target on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley boosted their target price on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on 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 Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $22.37 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.89. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $20.21 and a 52-week high of $29.94. 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 company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.94%.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

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

Peabody Energy 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.