Dallas, Texas 10/25/2013 (Financialstrend) – Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) on October 24, announced its third quarter dividend payout plans. Its board has approved the issuance of $0.085 dividend per share for the quarter to all share holders on record as of November 7. The stock will go ex dividend on November 5 and will get paid out on November 29.
On the back of this good news the stock of this industrial metals and mining company has posted 0.52% increase in market value during trading on October 24. At close of business the share price of the stock had settled at $19.22 per share. This translates to a 3.44% increase in value over the past 12 months and by more than 14% in the quarter. It has also paid out close to $0.34 dividend per share over the past 12 months which translates to a 1.77% dividend yield.
The S&P 500 tracked industrial metals and mining company has managed to post annual sales of $7.29 billion leading to a net loss of #833 million in the same time period.
The strong financial and operational results of the company has prompted rating agencies to upgrade Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE:BTU) stock. BMO capital has moved the stock from market perform to outperform. It has cited the mining company’s diversified asset portfolio as one key reason. It has also indicated that the company comes out positive when its cash on hand and operational efficiencies are compared to market leaders. The rating firm had also taken into consideration BTU strong showing in its 3Q operations and its management’s decision to raise outlook for 4Q.
It seems like external factors including macroeconomic improvements are lining up to help Peabody push ahead. Analysts expect the demand for coal in the global market would go up, specifically due to the pickup in demand for coal in China.
