290,363 Shares in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC purchased 290,363 shares of Peabody Energy Corporation, valued at approximately $3.93 million, increasing its stake to around 0.24% of the company.
• Multiple hedge funds have also adjusted their positions, with significant increases including Harbor Capital Advisors raising holdings by 70.7% and Allworth Financial LP increasing by 315%.
• Analysts have varied opinions on the stock, with B. Riley increasing the target price to $24.00 while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to a "sell," reflecting mixed sentiment in the market.

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 290,363 shares of the coal producer's stock, valued at approximately $3,934,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.24% of Peabody Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BTU. Long Focus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 96.7% during the 1st quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,789,858 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $24,253,000 after acquiring an additional 879,800 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,406,307 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $19,055,000 after acquiring an additional 760,155 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter worth $9,083,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 698.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 738,425 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $10,006,000 after acquiring an additional 645,934 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 1st quarter worth $7,331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on BTU shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $14.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.90.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 8.8%

BTU traded up $1.62 on Monday, reaching $20.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,158,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,680,472. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45 and a beta of 0.64. Peabody Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $9.61 and a fifty-two week high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The coal producer reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm had revenue of $890.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $944.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Peabody Energy's quarterly revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.13%.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation engages in coal mining business in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, India, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, France, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, and internationally. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal, Seaborne Metallurgical, Powder River Basin, Other U.S.