WINTON GROUP Ltd Acquires 40,576 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 357.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 51,930 shares of the coal producer’s stock after buying an additional 40,576 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $1,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BTU. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 230,279 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $4,822,000 after purchasing an additional 20,646 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Peabody Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 280,787 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $5,880,000 after buying an additional 8,607 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Peabody Energy by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,785,337 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $79,265,000 after buying an additional 215,614 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter worth $1,379,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter worth $325,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Peabody Energy Price Performance

NYSE BTU opened at $13.72 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.53 and a 200 day moving average of $20.85. Peabody Energy Co. has a one year low of $12.15 and a one year high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. 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 Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.