Oxford Asset Management LLP Acquires New Holdings in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 28,766 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,346,729 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $153,841,000 after acquiring an additional 88,466 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,785,337 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $79,265,000 after purchasing an additional 215,614 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,422,400 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $29,785,000 after purchasing an additional 125,372 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,400,044 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $29,317,000 after purchasing an additional 11,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 113.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,350,855 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $28,287,000 after buying an additional 718,274 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BTU. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of BTU opened at $12.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.52. Peabody Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $9.61 and a twelve month high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. Equities analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.11%.

Peabody Energy 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.