Empowered Funds LLC Purchases Shares of 290,363 Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Peabody Energy by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,693 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Peabody Energy by 70.7% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,092 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Peabody Energy by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,726 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 84.9% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Peabody Energy by 315.0% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,125 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 0.6%

Peabody Energy stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $21.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,311,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,696,024. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm's fifty day moving average is $17.06 and its 200-day moving average is $14.62. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The coal producer reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The company had revenue of $890.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BTU. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $14.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Peabody Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.90.

Peabody Energy 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.