Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 77,525 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) by 79.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,424 shares of the coal producer's stock after purchasing an additional 77,525 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Peabody Energy worth $4,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BTU. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the third quarter worth $36,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Peabody Energy in the second quarter worth about $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 292.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 139.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,756 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,607 shares during the period. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $295,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Peabody Energy Trading Down 1.2 %

Peabody Energy stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,194,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,957,727. Peabody Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $19.81 and a twelve month high of $29.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $24.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.72.

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

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy's payout ratio is 7.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.