Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $36.06 and last traded at $35.9610, with a volume of 4782370 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research raised Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.33.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -124.00 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The coal producer reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.39). Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 0.83% and a negative return on equity of 0.25%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $990.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is currently -103.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTU. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 763.4% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 258.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,607 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 57.7% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.