Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Announces Earnings Results

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) released its earnings results on Thursday. The coal producer reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.30, Briefing.com reports. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 11.62% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of BTU stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,446,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,819,138. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.36. Peabody Energy has a 52-week low of $17.71 and a 52-week high of $27.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $24.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.38.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BTU. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. B. Riley reduced their price target on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Peabody Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total value of $814,850.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,262.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Nicholas J. Chirekos sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total value of $357,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,114.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.48, for a total transaction of $814,850.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,262.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,806 shares of company stock valued at $1,339,565 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.