Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 278,781 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $8,280,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BTU. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Peabody Energy by 1.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,693 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $985,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Peabody Energy by 45.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,359 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 10,401 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy in the first quarter worth about $261,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Peabody Energy by 21.4% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 291,577 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $3,913,000 after buying an additional 51,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Peabody Energy by 742.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 281,576 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $3,779,000 after buying an additional 248,140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BTU. B. Riley Financial cut Peabody Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Peabody Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.13.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of BTU opened at $27.10 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.49 and its 200 day moving average is $30.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of -27.38 and a beta of 0.36. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $12.58 and a 12-month high of $41.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.