18,844,773 Shares in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU Acquired by BlackRock Inc.

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,844,773 shares of the coal producer's stock, valued at approximately $435,691,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 15.47% of Peabody Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,135,096 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $449,512,000 after buying an additional 1,191,438 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,532,978 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $283,129,000 after acquiring an additional 306,187 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,233,585 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $205,429,000 after acquiring an additional 54,072 shares during the last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 0.5% in the second quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,916,934 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $52,565,000 after acquiring an additional 18,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,092,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BTU has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $26.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.88.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:BTU opened at $27.53 on Wednesday. Peabody Energy Corporation has a one year low of $16.21 and a one year high of $41.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of -18.35 and a beta of 0.34. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $23.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.10.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The coal producer reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.36). Peabody Energy had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a negative return on equity of 5.22%. The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be given 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 is Wednesday, August 12th. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -20.00%.

Peabody Energy 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.

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