Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.25 EPS

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) released its earnings results on Thursday. The coal producer reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.25), Zacks reports. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU stock opened at $15.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.95. Peabody Energy has a 1-year low of $15.79 and a 1-year high of $29.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.80.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.