Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

BTU has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $34.23 on Wednesday. Peabody Energy has a 12-month low of $9.61 and a 12-month high of $39.95. The company has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -118.04 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.46.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The coal producer reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.25% and a negative net margin of 0.83%.Peabody Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total value of $73,693.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,306 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,803.56. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 763.4% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 258.7% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,607 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 104.3% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 57.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Peabody Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Peabody Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: B. Riley raised its price target to $43 and kept a “buy” rating, signaling continued analyst conviction and a sizeable upside from recent levels. B. Riley price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: The Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.075 per share (payable March 10, record Feb 23), supporting income investors and reflecting free‑cash‑flow confidence. Peabody Board Declares Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Operational upside: management and analysis note the Centurion longwall ramp is ahead of schedule and stronger coking‑coal pricing could boost 2026 cash flow — a medium‑term positive for earnings and free cash generation. Seeking Alpha: Centurion ahead of schedule
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results: BTU reported $0.09 EPS vs. $0.08 consensus (a slight beat) and ~$1.02B revenue roughly in line with estimates — a modest positive but not a clear catalyst given other negatives. MarketBeat: Q4 results
• Negative Sentiment: Underlying weakness: EPS fell from $0.25 a year ago and revenue declined ~9% YoY; net margin and ROE remain negative, which may keep investor caution despite the beat. Peabody reports Q4 and FY2025 results

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation is one of the world’s largest private-sector coal companies, engaged primarily in the production and sale of metallurgical and thermal coal. The company’s operations span surface and underground mines, serving utilities, steel mills and other industrial customers that rely on coal as an essential component in power generation and steelmaking. Peabody’s product portfolio includes high-energy thermal coal for electricity generation and low-volatile metallurgical coal used in steel production, reflecting its diverse end-market reach.

Founded in 1883, Peabody Energy has grown from a regional mining concern into a global energy supplier.