By Kelly Messenger

July 1, 2019 - Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)’s stock price traded up 5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $24.11 and last traded at $24.10. 981,594 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 20% from the average session volume of 820,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.95.

Several analysts have weighed in on BTU shares. Deutsche Bank started coverage on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Sunday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. MKM Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group started coverage on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.63.

The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.62.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The coal producer reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.65. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. Peabody Energy’s revenue was down 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a boost from Peabody Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 17.78%.

In other news, insider George John Schuller, Jr. sold 16,971 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total transaction of $474,848.58. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,263,688.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP A. Verona Dorch sold 33,527 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total transaction of $938,085.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,289 shares in the company, valued at $2,162,546.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,759 shares of company stock worth $2,273,315 over the last three months. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantamental Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,336 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares during the period. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $272,000.

Peabody Energy Corp. engages in the business of coal mining. It operates through the following segments: Powder River Basin Mining, Midwestern U.S. Mining, Western U.S. Mining, Seaborne Metallurgical Mining, Seaborne Thermal Mining, and Corporate and Other. The Powder River Basin Mining segment consists of its mines in Wyoming.