Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,800,000 shares, a growth of 28.2% from the February 13th total of 11,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 12.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BTU. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Peabody Energy by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Peabody Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Peabody Energy by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 2,900 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Peabody Energy stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $13.35. 2,059,844 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,769,349. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.94. Peabody Energy has a one year low of $12.15 and a one year high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.25). Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 8.75%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 11.11%.

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.