Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Given New $31.00 Price Target at B. Riley

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its price target trimmed by B. Riley from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the coal producer’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Peabody Energy’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.55 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.66 EPS and Q4 2024 earnings at $0.76 EPS.

Separately, Benchmark reissued a buy rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $28.25.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BTU opened at $22.05 on Friday. Peabody Energy has a 1 year low of $17.71 and a 1 year high of $27.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.34.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The coal producer reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $167,714.82. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,150.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $167,714.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,150.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total transaction of $357,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,114.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,806 shares of company stock worth $1,339,565 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $640,000. Privium Fund Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. now owns 10,740 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of 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 worth $49,121,000 after buying an additional 1,677,448 shares during the period. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 42.4% during the first quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd now owns 13,452 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.