Adams Asset Advisors LLC Takes $1.36 Million Position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Adams Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 65,000 shares of the coal producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,361,000. Adams Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.05% of Peabody Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 79.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 175,424 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $4,693,000 after purchasing an additional 77,525 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,714,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $77,473,000 after buying an additional 216,887 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,631,707 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $202,546,000 after acquiring an additional 540,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 167.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 200,073 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 125,244 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of Peabody Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,939,759.20. The trade was a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BTU shares. Benchmark upped their price objective on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group 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 report on Monday, January 6th. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Peabody Energy from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

BTU traded up $0.93 on Monday, hitting $18.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,572,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,526,063. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $23.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $17.73 and a 12 month high of $29.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.99.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.94%.

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.