Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $1.18 Million Stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 2.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 53,200 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 11,390.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,149 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Natixis raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 8,355.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 1,691 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,671 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 48,475.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,943 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Peabody Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $201,000. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Peabody Energy in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE BTU opened at $23.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.41. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $20.26 and a 12 month high of $27.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.97.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The coal producer reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.90. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. On average, analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

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.