Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Peabody Energy's rating was upgraded from "sell" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment.
• B. Riley raised its target price for Peabody Energy from $18 to $24, while the stock currently holds a consensus price target of $23.20.
• The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion and reported a one-year trading range with a low of $9.61 and a high of $32.60.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. B. Riley raised their target price on Peabody Energy from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Peabody Energy from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.20.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU traded up $2.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,924,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,628,031. Peabody Energy has a one year low of $9.61 and a one year high of $32.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's 50-day moving average is $19.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.67.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The coal producer reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The business had revenue of $890.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $944.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 29.8% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 501,160 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $6,791,000 after acquiring an additional 115,172 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the first quarter valued at about $156,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 77.1% in the second quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 30,000 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 13,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 145.1% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,725 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 27,069 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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