State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 104,445 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 9,585 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $2,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,154,535 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $52,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,261 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Peabody Energy by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,920,570 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $49,916,000 after purchasing an additional 351,103 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $8,982,000. Gendell Jeffrey L lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 2,194,474 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $57,034,000 after buying an additional 344,793 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 124.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 472,281 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $12,275,000 after buying an additional 261,821 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peabody Energy news, COO Darren Ronald Yeates sold 31,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,262.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,826 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.57, for a total transaction of $167,714.82. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,150.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,262.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,806 shares of company stock valued at $1,339,565. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Peabody Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 2.3 %

BTU opened at $21.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.40. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $17.71 and a 12 month high of $27.24.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The coal producer reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

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.