Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) released its earnings results on Thursday. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.25), Zacks reports. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.24%.

Peabody Energy Price Performance

BTU traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $16.06. The company had a trading volume of 2,050,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,238,780. Peabody Energy has a 52-week low of $15.79 and a 52-week high of $29.94. The company has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.95. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.84.

Peabody Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 7.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BTU. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Peabody Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark increased their price objective on Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th.

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.