Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Shares Sold by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) by 73.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,253,020 shares of the coal producer's stock after selling 3,412,289 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 1.03% of Peabody Energy worth $26,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Peabody Energy by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 2,900 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BTU. B. Riley cut their price objective on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark cut their price objective on Peabody Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $13.90. The stock had a trading volume of 3,644,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,442,322. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.49. Peabody Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $9.61 and a 1-year high of $29.94. The business's fifty day moving average is $13.17 and its 200-day moving average is $17.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The coal producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $937.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $976.57 million. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 8.75%. Peabody Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.19%.

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.