MetLife Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,083 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 1,325 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Peabody Energy worth $1,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BTU. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,406,307 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $19,055,000 after purchasing an additional 760,155 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $7,331,000. Ranmore Fund Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,337,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,543,915 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $32,330,000 after acquiring an additional 360,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,162,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BTU. Wall Street Zen downgraded Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Peabody Energy from $14.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.90.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 9.8%

NYSE:BTU opened at $19.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy Corporation 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 results on Thursday, July 31st. The coal producer reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $890.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $944.27 million. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.43%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.13%.

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.