Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) Short Interest Up 28.2% in February

Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) was the recipient 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. Currently, 12.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Peabody Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BTU. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 167.2% during the 4th 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 bought a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 2,900 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis acquired a new position in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. 87.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BTU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group 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 research report on Monday, January 6th.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Peabody Energy stock opened at $14.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Peabody Energy has a twelve month low of $12.15 and a twelve month high of $29.94. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.28 and its 200 day moving average is $21.28.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The coal producer reported $0.28 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Peabody Energy will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. 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 2.11%. Peabody Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.