Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $7.09 Million Position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 267,159 shares of the coal producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,700 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $7,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $516,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 255.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 117,071 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $3,107,000 after buying an additional 84,161 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 9.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 167.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 200,073 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 125,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the third quarter worth $318,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Peabody Energy Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of BTU stock opened at $23.85 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $26.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.89. 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 1 year low of $20.21 and a 1 year high of $29.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.94%.

Peabody Energy 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.