Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $13.35, but opened at $13.94. Peabody Energy shares last traded at $13.90, with a volume of 810,935 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTU has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.34.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 8.75%. Equities analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTU. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 265,937.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,023,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $212,949,000 after purchasing an additional 8,020,670 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,352,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 113.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,350,855 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $28,287,000 after acquiring an additional 718,274 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $202,546,000 after acquiring an additional 540,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,565,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.