Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Short Interest Update

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU – Get Rating) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 17,200,000 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the February 13th total of 18,340,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,445,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.92, for a total value of $43,263,871.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,579,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $645,644,128.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 6,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.65, for a total value of $153,298.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,567,197.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,445,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.92, for a total value of $43,263,871.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,579,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $645,644,128.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,486,261 shares of company stock valued at $72,920,633. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peabody Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 8,762 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. EJF Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 30,000 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 164,339 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $4,079,000 after purchasing an additional 21,274 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $705,000. Finally, X Square Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 172,374 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $4,278,000 after purchasing an additional 16,050 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.87% of the company’s stock.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

NYSE BTU opened at $23.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.26. Peabody Energy has a 1-year low of $17.42 and a 1-year high of $33.29.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The coal producer reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $2.10. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 53.25% and a net margin of 26.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Peabody Energy will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BTU. B. Riley raised their price objective on Peabody Energy from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Benchmark lifted their target price on Peabody Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Peabody Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.75.

Peabody Energy Company Profile

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Peabody Energy Corp. engages in the business of coal mining. It operates through the following business segments: Powder River Basin, Midwestern U.S., Western U.S., Seaborne Metallurgical, Seaborne Thermal Mining and Corporate and Other. The Powder River Basin Mining segment consists of its mines in Wyoming.