Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Price Target Lowered to $31.00 at B. Riley

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its price target lowered by B. Riley from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the coal producer’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Peabody Energy’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.55 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.66 EPS and Q4 2024 earnings at $0.76 EPS.

Separately, Benchmark reissued a buy rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $28.25.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of BTU traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.05. The stock had a trading volume of 3,446,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,819,138. Peabody Energy 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 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.19 and a 200 day moving average of $24.38.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The coal producer reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 11.62% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total value of $357,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,114.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total value of $357,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,114.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,262.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,806 shares of company stock valued at $1,339,565. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thomist Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 483.0% in the 1st quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 2,024,769 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677,448 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,154,535 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $52,398,000 after buying an additional 1,109,261 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 4,386.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,648 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $15,688,000 after acquiring an additional 632,235 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,087,000. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,729,856 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $163,968,000 after purchasing an additional 437,585 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

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.