Sprott Inc. Purchases Shares of 12,115 Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Sprott Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 12,115 shares of the coal producer’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BTU. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 63.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Peabody Energy during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Peabody Energy by 139.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,756 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peabody Energy by 69.7% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 43.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Peabody Energy Stock Performance

BTU stock opened at $14.17 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.24. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $14.10 and a 52 week high of $29.94. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.33%. Research analysts anticipate that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is 11.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BTU. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 reduced their target price on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on 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.