Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $28.29 Million Stock Position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) by 113.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,350,855 shares of the coal producer's stock after purchasing an additional 718,274 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 1.11% of Peabody Energy worth $28,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BTU. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $212,949,000 after acquiring an additional 8,020,670 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 7.6% in the 3rd 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. Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,484,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 547.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 273,529 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $7,259,000 after buying an additional 231,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 8.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,918,536 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $77,473,000 after acquiring an additional 216,887 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 2.1 %

BTU traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,350,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,305,857. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $22.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.99. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $17.73 and a 52 week high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Peabody Energy's payout ratio is presently 7.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BTU. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Peabody Energy from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

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.