Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU Shares Sold by GeoSphere Capital Management LLC

GeoSphere Capital Management LLC cut its position in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) by 36.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 50,000 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 29,246 shares during the period. GeoSphere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $1,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,487 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 27,849 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,982 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,078 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. B. Riley Financial cut Peabody Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Peabody Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.13.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Peabody Energy stock opened at $24.61 on Monday. Peabody Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $12.58 and a twelve month high of $41.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.86 and a beta of 0.35.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The coal producer reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.40). Peabody Energy had a negative return on equity of 2.80% and a negative net margin of 3.07%.The company had revenue of $973.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -30.30%.

About Peabody Energy

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.