Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU – Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on BTU. UBS Group increased their price target on Peabody Energy from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.20.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Peabody Energy

Peabody Energy Price Performance

BTU opened at $28.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58 and a beta of 0.67. Peabody Energy has a fifty-two week low of $9.61 and a fifty-two week high of $35.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The coal producer reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $890.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.27 million. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.43%.Peabody Energy’s revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 763.4% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 104.3% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 315.0% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,125 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 57.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 48.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

About Peabody Energy

(Get Free Report)

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.

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