Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Peabody Energy Call Options (NYSE:BTU)

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 23,312 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 83% compared to the average daily volume of 12,706 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 6.3 %

NYSE BTU opened at $14.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.94. Peabody Energy has a one year low of $12.15 and a one year high of $29.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $16.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.28.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. Analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 11.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BTU. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $212,949,000 after acquiring an additional 8,020,670 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth $15,352,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 113.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,350,855 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $28,287,000 after buying an additional 718,274 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $202,546,000 after buying an additional 540,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter worth $8,565,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.