Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,916 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 1,599 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 113.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,350,855 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $28,287,000 after purchasing an additional 718,274 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $202,546,000 after buying an additional 540,219 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 105.5% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 646,152 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $13,530,000 after buying an additional 331,759 shares in the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,484,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 547.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 273,529 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $7,259,000 after acquiring an additional 231,309 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BTU. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

Shares of BTU opened at $13.99 on Monday. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $12.15 and a 12 month 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.09. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.