Maverick Capital Ltd. Takes Position in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

Key Points

• Maverick Capital Ltd. has invested approximately $439,000 in Peabody Energy Corporation, acquiring 32,435 shares during the first quarter.
• Peabody Energy's recent earnings report showed a miss on EPS estimates and a year-over-year revenue decline of 14.6%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.075, representing a 1.8% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 29.13%.

Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 32,435 shares of the coal producer's stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $337,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 93,020 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 12,035 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,620,897 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $33,942,000 after purchasing an additional 33,742 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 117.1% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 254,131 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $5,322,000 after purchasing an additional 137,060 shares during the period. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth $440,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BTU has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Peabody Energy from $14.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Peabody Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.90.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of BTU stock traded up $1.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.10. The stock had a trading volume of 6,660,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,885,190. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $9.61 and a 12-month high of $29.94. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business earned $1.42 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Peabody Energy's payout ratio is currently 29.13%.

About Peabody Energy

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.