Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Short Interest Up 28.2% in February

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,800,000 shares, an increase of 28.2% from the February 13th total of 11,540,000 shares. Currently, 12.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTU has been the subject of several analyst reports. Benchmark dropped their target price on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 9.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,234 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 167.2% during the fourth 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. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 24,556 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 6.3 %

BTU stock traded up $0.84 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.19. 6,275,076 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,845,636. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.34. Peabody Energy has a 52-week low of $12.15 and a 52-week high of $29.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 8.75%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 11.11%.

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.