Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) was downgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, FinViz reports. They presently have a $18.00 price objective on the coal producer’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $30.00. Jefferies Financial Group‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 5.91% from the stock’s previous close.

BTU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. B. Riley Financial raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, October 26th. Benchmark cut their target price on Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Peabody Energy from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.62.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 6.0%

Peabody Energy stock opened at $17.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Peabody Energy has a 1-year low of $15.69 and a 1-year high of $41.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.63.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The coal producer reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 3.55% and a negative return on equity of 4.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.58) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post -0.70 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTU. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 387.1% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,556,305 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $35,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,770 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy in the second quarter valued at $22,393,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 1,139.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 328,139 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $10,812,000 after purchasing an additional 301,661 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 740,760 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $24,408,000 after purchasing an additional 192,153 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 279.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 148,965 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $4,908,000 after purchasing an additional 109,678 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Peabody Energy

Peabody Energy is an international coal company that explores for, mines, and sells coal. Its products include thermal coal, used primarily to generate electricity, and metallurgical coal, which is used in steelmaking.

The company operates mining businesses in the United States and Australia and supplies customers in markets around the world. Its activities span coal production, processing, and marketing.

Founded in 1883, Peabody has a long history in the coal industry. The company is headquartered in St.