Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU Stake Boosted by RFG Advisory LLC

RFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) by 76.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 51,343 shares of the coal producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,239 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $1,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strs Ohio increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 37,200 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 12,100 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $1,018,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $2,219,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 103,501 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $3,074,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,135,096 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $449,512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191,438 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In other news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total transaction of $505,668.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 113,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,129,216. The trade was a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BTU shares. Zacks Research lowered Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings lowered Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. B. Riley Financial lowered Peabody Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.13.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 1.9%

BTU opened at $23.61 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.41. Peabody Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $12.58 and a twelve month high of $41.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.85 and a beta of 0.35.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The coal producer reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.40). Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 2.80% and a negative net margin of 3.07%.The company had revenue of $973.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Peabody Energy 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.