MQS Management LLC Invests $201,000 in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,297 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,957,602 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $338,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,286 shares during the period. Thomist Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 483.0% during the 1st quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 2,024,769 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677,448 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 4,386.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,648 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $15,688,000 after acquiring an additional 632,235 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,087,000. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,729,856 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $163,968,000 after acquiring an additional 437,585 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price target on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.25.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE BTU traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $21.86. 2,549,378 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,126,997. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.86. Peabody Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $21.00 and a twelve month high of $27.24. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.93.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The coal producer reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.30. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 11.62%. The business had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

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.