BMO Capital Markets Trims Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Target Price to $24.00

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its target price decreased by BMO Capital Markets from $25.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the coal producer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on BTU. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday. Benchmark reissued a buy rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $28.25.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BTU opened at $22.05 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.34. The company has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.01. Peabody Energy has a 12-month low of $17.71 and a 12-month high of $27.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The coal producer reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.30. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 11.62%. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. Peabody Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

In related news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total value of $814,850.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,262.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total value of $357,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,114.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total transaction of $814,850.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 78,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,262.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,806 shares of company stock worth $1,339,565 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,147,834 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $173,838,000 after purchasing an additional 273,768 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,729,856 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $163,968,000 after buying an additional 437,585 shares during the last quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 18.6% in the third quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 2,194,474 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $57,034,000 after buying an additional 344,793 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Peabody Energy by 0.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,163,939 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $52,497,000 after buying an additional 9,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 483.0% during the first quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 2,024,769 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677,448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

About Peabody Energy

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.