B. Riley Financial Cuts Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Price Target to $42.00

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its price target trimmed by B. Riley Financial from $43.00 to $42.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the coal producer’s stock.

BTU has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $34.50 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

BTU stock opened at $33.50 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of -74.44 and a beta of 0.63. Peabody Energy has a 1 year low of $9.61 and a 1 year high of $41.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.38.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The coal producer reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.01). Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 1.37% and a negative return on equity of 0.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total transaction of $505,668.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 113,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,129,216. The trade was a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Peabody Energy by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,328 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Regal Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,309,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 548,607 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $16,294,000 after buying an additional 126,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $471,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.