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

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) by 73.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund 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 about 1.03% of Peabody Energy worth $26,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 63.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,234 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 24,556 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 45.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTU has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:BTU opened at $14.75 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.83. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $9.61 and a 52 week high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $937.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $976.57 million. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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