Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $478,000 Position in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) by 13.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,241 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 5,675 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 315.0% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,125 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 70.7% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,092 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 84.9% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:BTU opened at $17.59 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.37. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.21. Peabody Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $9.61 and a fifty-two week high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The coal producer reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $890.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $944.27 million. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The business’s revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on BTU shares. 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 note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group started coverage on Peabody Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.60.

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.