Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Stock Price Down 6.3% – Should You Sell?

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)’s share price dropped 6.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $27.51 and last traded at $27.1910. Approximately 1,245,963 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 4,692,216 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BTU shares. Benchmark increased 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -95.60 and a beta of 0.57. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The coal producer reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.39). Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.25% and a negative net margin of 0.83%.The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $990.20 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -103.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 763.4% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 48.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Peabody Energy in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.