Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.20.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Peabody Energy from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. B. Riley boosted their price target on Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 17.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 1.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,693 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 48.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 57.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 27.2% during the second quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,129 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 5.3%

NYSE:BTU opened at $33.02 on Thursday. Peabody Energy has a 1 year low of $9.61 and a 1 year high of $35.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.68.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The coal producer reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The business had revenue of $890.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 29.13%.

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.