Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $162.48 Million Stock Holdings in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,759,256 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 264,430 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 6.39% of Peabody Energy worth $162,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BTU. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Peabody Energy in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 292.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 69.7% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $295,200.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BTU shares. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Peabody Energy stock opened at $19.38 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.32. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $17.73 and a 52-week high of $29.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.99.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 14.74%. Peabody Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 7.94%.

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.