Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Trading Down 3.7% – Here’s What Happened

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)’s stock price was down 3.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $26.85 and last traded at $27.14. Approximately 303,621 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 3,465,921 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BTU shares. Zacks Research cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. B. Riley Financial cut Peabody Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.13.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.99 and a beta of 0.36.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The coal producer reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.40). Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 3.07% and a negative return on equity of 2.80%. The business had revenue of $973.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is currently -30.30%.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTU. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $90,603,000. Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $28,092,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 19.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,208,031 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $123,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487,531 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,125,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,135,096 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $449,512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191,438 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.