American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 215,614 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,785,337 shares of the coal producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 215,614 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $79,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Peabody Energy by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Peabody Energy by 144.2% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 43.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,289 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 2,341 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BTU. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of BTU opened at $14.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 5.37 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.04. Peabody Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $12.15 and a 1-year high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.