Invesco Ltd. Purchases 164,987 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) by 26.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 788,426 shares of the coal producer's stock after buying an additional 164,987 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.65% of Peabody Energy worth $16,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Peabody Energy by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,785,337 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $79,265,000 after buying an additional 215,614 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,422,400 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $29,785,000 after acquiring an additional 125,372 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,400,044 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $29,317,000 after purchasing an additional 11,363 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 113.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,350,855 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $28,287,000 after purchasing an additional 718,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 105.5% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 646,152 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $13,530,000 after purchasing an additional 331,759 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BTU. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. B. Riley dropped their target price on Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of BTU traded up $0.58 on Thursday, reaching $12.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,006,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,239,626. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.15. Peabody Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $9.61 and a 12-month high of $29.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.25.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. Sell-side analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.11%.

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.