State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Holdings in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 104,445 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 9,585 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.08% of Peabody Energy worth $2,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glenorchy Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter worth $1,593,000. Gimbal Financial bought a new position in Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $297,000. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,482,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU stock opened at $21.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.26 and a 200 day moving average of $24.40. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $17.71 and a 52 week high of $27.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The coal producer reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.08). Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total transaction of $814,850.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,262.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $167,714.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,150.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total value of $814,850.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,307 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,262.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,806 shares of company stock valued at $1,339,565 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.