Peabody Energy Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BTU)

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 41,828 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 165% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,755 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,234 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,693 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $985,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 744 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, BOKF NA increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 22,236 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BTU shares. 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. B. Riley decreased their target price on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

BTU traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $14.48. 3,368,031 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,637,697. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy has a one year low of $9.61 and a one year high of $29.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.08.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The coal producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.20. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $937.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $976.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.19%.

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.