Peabody Energy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BTU)

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 16,562 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 146% compared to the average volume of 6,740 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. B. Riley Financial downgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,603,000. Sourcerock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,092,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,208,031 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $123,572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487,531 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $38,125,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,135,096 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $449,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191,438 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of BTU traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $23.85. 490,333 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,291,205. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.08 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy has a 52 week low of $12.58 and a 52 week high of $41.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.13.

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

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -30.30%.

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.