Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 8,020,670 Shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU) by 265,937.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,023,686 shares of the coal producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,020,670 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 6.37% of Peabody Energy worth $212,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in Peabody Energy by 22.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 59,273 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 10,835 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 21.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,957,602 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $338,611,000 after buying an additional 2,473,286 shares during the last quarter. American International Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Peabody Energy by 6.9% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 60,783 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 3,901 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 2,651.2% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 89,002 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 85,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis boosted its position in Peabody Energy by 8,355.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 1,691 shares of the coal producer’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671 shares in the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BTU. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Peabody Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley raised their target price 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. Finally, 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peabody Energy

In related news, CFO Mark Spurbeck sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $295,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,939,759.20. This represents a 13.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BTU opened at $26.61 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.72. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 0.98. Peabody Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $20.21 and a 52 week high of $29.94.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The coal producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Peabody Energy had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Peabody Energy Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Peabody Energy’s payout ratio is currently 7.94%.

Peabody Energy 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.