Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Peabody Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Peabody Energy from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.33.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 2.9%

BTU stock opened at $33.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy has a twelve month low of $9.61 and a twelve month high of $35.99. The company has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -116.43 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.28 and a 200-day moving average of $23.75.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The coal producer reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $990.20 million. Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.25% and a negative net margin of 0.83%.Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -103.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,345,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,598 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 29.1% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,422,266 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $64,238,000 after purchasing an additional 546,018 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Peabody Energy by 232.9% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,222 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 5,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $346,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.