728,163 Shares in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU Bought by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 728,163 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $16,835,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $435,691,000. Sourcerock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,092,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,208,031 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $123,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487,531 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $38,125,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $27.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of -18.35 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $16.21 and a 52-week high of $41.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.10.

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

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -20.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.88.

About Peabody Energy

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.