Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Stock Rating Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BTU. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.88.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of Peabody Energy stock opened at $24.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Peabody Energy has a 1-year low of $20.06 and a 1-year high of $41.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $25.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.94. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.26 and a beta of 0.34.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The coal producer reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a negative return on equity of 5.22%. Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a $0.0750 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is presently -20.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,233,585 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $205,429,000 after purchasing an additional 54,072 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,556,305 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $35,982,000 after buying an additional 1,236,770 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 331.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,211,411 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $39,916,000 after buying an additional 930,451 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy during the second quarter valued at about $22,393,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 847,020 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $25,156,000 after buying an additional 45,218 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) is a global coal producer and energy company. It primarily mines and sells thermal coal, which is used for electricity generation, and metallurgical coal, which is used in steelmaking. The company also markets and trades coal and provides related services, including coal transportation and land management.

Peabody operates mining assets in the United States and Australia and serves utility, industrial and steelmaking customers in domestic and international markets.