Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 20,230,000 shares, a growth of 15.9% from the September 15th total of 17,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.4 days.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTU traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $25.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,383,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,026,414. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.21. Peabody Energy has a 52-week low of $20.21 and a 52-week high of $27.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The coal producer reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.90. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Peabody Energy will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BTU. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 11,390.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,149 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Natixis increased its holdings in Peabody Energy by 8,355.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 1,691 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Peabody Energy by 292.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy in the second quarter worth $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

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.