Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Holdings in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 267,159 shares of the coal producer's stock after buying an additional 34,700 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.22% of Peabody Energy worth $7,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new stake in Peabody Energy during the third quarter valued at about $516,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 255.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 117,071 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $3,107,000 after buying an additional 84,161 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 167.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 200,073 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 125,244 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $318,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Insider Transactions at Peabody Energy

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

Peabody Energy Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Peabody Energy stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $23.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,822,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,027,004. 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 cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.02 and a 200-day moving average of $23.89. Peabody Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $20.21 and a twelve month high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during 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%. Peabody Energy's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. 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.