Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Stock Price

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $30.00 to $26.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the coal producer’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 34.58% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of BTU stock opened at $19.32 on Monday. 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 has a 12-month low of $19.10 and a 12-month high of $29.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $23.89 and its 200 day moving average is $23.54.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Peabody Energy

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $295,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 265,937.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,023,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $212,949,000 after purchasing an additional 8,020,670 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Peabody Energy by 7.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $202,546,000 after purchasing an additional 540,219 shares during the last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,580,014 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $95,014,000 after buying an additional 56,280 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,165,258 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $70,016,000 after buying an additional 531,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $77,473,000 after buying an additional 216,887 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% 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.