Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Shares Up 3.5%

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 3.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $23.83 and last traded at $23.74. 1,413,385 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 3,779,381 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BTU. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Friday.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 5.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.98. The business's 50 day moving average price is $24.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.06.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The coal producer reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total transaction of $814,850.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,307 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,262.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total transaction of $814,850.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,307 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,262.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $167,714.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,150.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,806 shares of company stock worth $1,339,565 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Rheos Capital Works Inc. increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 189.8% during the first quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 579,500 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $14,059,000 after acquiring an additional 379,500 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,208,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 134,193 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $3,264,000 after acquiring an additional 32,775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

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.