American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 215,614 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,785,337 shares of the coal producer’s stock after buying an additional 215,614 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 3.12% of Peabody Energy worth $79,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,379,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $325,000. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 4th quarter worth $248,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 105.5% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 646,152 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $13,530,000 after acquiring an additional 331,759 shares during the period. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,040 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 12,025 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU opened at $14.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Peabody Energy Co. has a one year low of $12.15 and a one year high of $29.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.91 and a 200 day moving average of $21.04.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is presently 11.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BTU. Jefferies Financial Group 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th.

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.