Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.8750.

A number of research firms have recently commented on BTU. Zacks Research lowered Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Benchmark dropped their price target on Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut their price target on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BTU. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth $2,219,000. X Square Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,470,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $1,776,000. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,125,000. Finally, Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,463,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:BTU opened at $28.89 on Friday. Peabody Energy has a 1 year low of $17.28 and a 1 year high of $41.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of -19.26 and a beta of 0.34.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The coal producer reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.36). Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 4.56%.The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -20.00%.

About Peabody Energy

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.