Peabody Energy Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 (NYSE:BTU)

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.075 per share by the coal producer on Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th.

Peabody Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 8.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Peabody Energy to earn $5.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.0%.

Peabody Energy Stock Up 5.2 %

BTU stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $16.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,464,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,347,357. Peabody Energy has a 52-week low of $15.79 and a 52-week high of $29.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.95.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 8.75%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

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.