Zacks Research Upgrades Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) to Hold

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Peabody Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. B. Riley Financial cut their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $34.50 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.63.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

NYSE:BTU traded down $1.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $30.48. 1,383,433 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,361,483. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.76. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of -67.66 and a beta of 0.63. Peabody Energy has a 12-month low of $11.06 and a 12-month high of $41.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The coal producer reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.01). Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 1.37%.The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Peabody Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Scott T. Jarboe sold 2,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.26, for a total value of $73,693.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,803.56. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 13,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.40, for a total transaction of $505,668.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 113,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,129,216. The trade was a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,135,096 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $449,512,000 after buying an additional 1,191,438 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,532,978 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $283,129,000 after buying an additional 306,187 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,425,459 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $117,363,000 after buying an additional 354,099 shares during the last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. raised its holdings in Peabody Energy by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,916,934 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $52,565,000 after buying an additional 18,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $90,603,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation is one of the world’s largest private-sector coal companies, engaged primarily in the production and sale of metallurgical and thermal coal. The company’s operations span surface and underground mines, serving utilities, steel mills and other industrial customers that rely on coal as an essential component in power generation and steelmaking. Peabody’s product portfolio includes high-energy thermal coal for electricity generation and low-volatile metallurgical coal used in steel production, reflecting its diverse end-market reach.

Founded in 1883, Peabody Energy has grown from a regional mining concern into a global energy supplier.