BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $5.32 Million Stock Position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 117.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,131 shares of the coal producer’s stock after buying an additional 137,060 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.21% of Peabody Energy worth $5,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter worth $15,352,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 113.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,350,855 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $28,287,000 after purchasing an additional 718,274 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $8,565,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 105.5% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 646,152 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $13,530,000 after buying an additional 331,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,515,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark reduced their price target on Peabody Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. B. Riley cut their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BTU opened at $15.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.49. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $9.61 and a 52 week high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The coal producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.20. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The company had revenue of $937.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $976.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Peabody Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.19%.

Peabody Energy 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.