Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Short Interest Up 28.2% in February

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,800,000 shares, a growth of 28.2% from the February 13th total of 11,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Approximately 12.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BTU shares. Benchmark decreased their target price on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 6.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BTU opened at $14.19 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.15. Peabody Energy has a 52-week low of $12.15 and a 52-week high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders 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 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 11.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BTU. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 265,937.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,023,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $212,949,000 after buying an additional 8,020,670 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $202,546,000 after acquiring an additional 540,219 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $153,841,000 after purchasing an additional 88,466 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position 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 worth $79,265,000 after purchasing an additional 215,614 shares during the period. Finally, Progeny 3 Inc. raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,620,014 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $75,803,000 after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.