Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU – Get Rating) by 413.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,865 shares of the coal producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,161 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $1,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,238 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,208 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. 77.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BTU. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $39.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Peabody Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.25.
Peabody Energy Trading Down 3.5 %
BTU opened at $18.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.31. Peabody Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $17.42 and a 1-year high of $32.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.02.
Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The coal producer reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.11. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 29.80% and a return on equity of 48.04%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 97.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Peabody Energy Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 11th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 10th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.87%.
Peabody Energy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, April 17th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the coal producer to reacquire up to 26.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 257,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.40, for a total transaction of $7,307,206.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,109,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $599,518,518.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.
Peabody Energy Profile
Peabody Energy Corp. engages in the business of coal mining. It operates through the following business segments: Powder River Basin, Midwestern U.S., Western U.S., Seaborne Metallurgical, Seaborne Thermal Mining and Corporate and Other. The Powder River Basin Mining segment consists of its mines in Wyoming.
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