Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $197,000 Position in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Peabody Energy, selling 231,985 shares and holding only 14,515 shares thereafter, representing a 94.1% decrease in its position.
• Peabody Energy plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share on September 3rd, with an annual yield of 1.7%.
• Despite a drop in quarterly earnings to ($0.06) EPS and revenue growth declining by 14.6% year-over-year, Peabody Energy maintains a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) by 94.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,515 shares of the coal producer's stock after selling 231,985 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings 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. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 70.7% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,092 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 84.9% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BTU. UBS Group began coverage on Peabody Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Benchmark decreased their target price on Peabody Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Peabody Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.60.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE BTU traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.13. 2,095,394 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,782,515. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.35. Peabody Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $9.61 and a twelve month high of $29.94.

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

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Peabody Energy's payout ratio is 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.