Moran Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,611 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Moran Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 6.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,015 shares of the coal producer’s stock after selling 2,611 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Peabody Energy were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 27.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 314,393 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $8,344,000 after buying an additional 67,897 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 98,868 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 11,145 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Peabody Energy by 9.0% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 18,935 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the third quarter valued at about $218,000. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Peabody Energy

In other Peabody Energy news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 5.7 %

BTU stock opened at $28.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Peabody Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $20.21 and a 1-year high of $29.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued 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 1.07%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.