AlphaQuest LLC Acquires 7,217 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 27,757.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,243 shares of the coal producer’s stock after buying an additional 7,217 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $212,949,000 after purchasing an additional 8,020,670 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $202,546,000 after purchasing an additional 540,219 shares during the last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.6% in the third quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,580,014 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $95,014,000 after purchasing an additional 56,280 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $77,473,000 after purchasing an additional 216,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,422,400 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $29,785,000 after purchasing an additional 125,372 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BTU shares. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on 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 Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $13.33 on Tuesday. Peabody Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $12.15 and a 1-year high of $29.94. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.11%.

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.