65,000 Shares in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Purchased by Adams Asset Advisors LLC

Adams Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 65,000 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Peabody Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Peabody Energy by 292.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 139.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,756 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,607 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $295,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 3.3 %

NYSE:BTU traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $18.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,476,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,211,518. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $17.73 and a 12-month high of $29.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.99.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.16. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BTU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley increased their price target on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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.

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.