Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 579 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,267 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 579 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTU. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 3,690 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 10,523 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 56,675 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 54,025 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Privium Fund Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. now owns 10,740 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BTU shares. B. Riley reduced their price target on Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Peabody Energy in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Peabody Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU opened at $22.05 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.94. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $21.00 and a 52 week high of $27.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 0.97.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The coal producer reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 11.62%. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $980.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Peabody Energy 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.