Old West Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Peabody Energy Corporation $BTU

Key Points

• Old West Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 100%, now owning 114,486 shares valued at approximately $1.55 million.
• Analyst ratings for Peabody Energy show a mixed sentiment, with UBS raising its target price to $15.50 and Wall Street Zen downgrading to a "sell," indicating varied expectations for the stock's future performance.
• Peabody Energy reported a loss of $0.06 EPS in its latest quarter, missing analyst estimates, and recorded a 14.6% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Old West Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) by 100.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 114,486 shares of the coal producer's stock after buying an additional 57,243 shares during the quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC owned 0.09% of Peabody Energy worth $1,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,858,777 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $52,286,000 after buying an additional 73,440 shares in the last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,620,014 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $75,803,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,620,897 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $33,942,000 after acquiring an additional 33,742 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,543,915 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $32,330,000 after acquiring an additional 360,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,518,351 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $20,574,000 after acquiring an additional 118,307 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BTU. UBS Group raised their target price on Peabody Energy from $14.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Peabody Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on Peabody Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.90.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

BTU stock opened at $16.4910 on Monday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.53. Peabody Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $9.61 and a 1 year high of $29.94.

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

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. Peabody Energy's payout ratio is presently 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.

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