Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Shares Up 6.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) traded up 6.2% on Monday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $28.70 and last traded at $29.1150. 731,704 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 4,882,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.42.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark increased 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Four 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.com, Peabody Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 763.4% in the third 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. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Peabody Energy by 315.0% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,125 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Peabody Energy by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 5.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $24.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.21. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04 and a beta of 0.67.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The coal producer reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.39). Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.43%.The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $990.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is -103.45%.

About Peabody Energy

Peabody Energy Corporation engages in coal mining business in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, India, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, France, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, and internationally. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal, Seaborne Metallurgical, Powder River Basin, Other U.S.