Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Trading 6.3% Higher – Still a Buy?

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) traded up 6.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $26.50 and last traded at $26.64. Approximately 628,262 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 3,122,552 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.07.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Peabody Energy Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.87 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.28.

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

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is currently -20.00%.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 1,513.7% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,178 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) is a global coal producer and energy company. It primarily mines and sells thermal coal, which is used for electricity generation, and metallurgical coal, which is used in steelmaking. The company also markets and trades coal and provides related services, including coal transportation and land management.

Peabody operates mining assets in the United States and Australia and serves utility, industrial and steelmaking customers in domestic and international markets.