Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) announced that Allen Capdeboscq has been promoted to Senior Vice President

(PR Newswire) Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) announced that Allen Capdeboscq has been promoted to Senior Vice President – Corporate Development reporting to Group Executive and Chief Development Officer Christopher J. Hagedorn. Capdeboscq previously served as Vice President – Financial and Capital Planning.

The appointment is consistent with Peabodys heightened focus on asset sales and portfolio optimization. Capdeboscq will be focused on value-adding transactions involving the divestitures, non-core asset sales, joint ventures, minority interests, mergers and acquisitions.

Capdeboscq joined Peabody in 2006 as Vice President – Corporate Business Development and was named Vice President – Financial and Capital Planning in 2012. He previously worked for A.G. Edwards in its investment banking energy group and for Shell Exploration and Production Company as a process and project engineer.

Peabody Energy is the worlds largest private-sector coal company and a global leader in sustainable mining, energy access and clean coal solutions. The company serves metallurgical and thermal coal customers in more than 25 countries on six continents. Peabody was named Energy Company of the Year at the 2014 Platts Global Energy Awards. For further information, visit PeabodyEnergy.com and AdvancedEnergyForLife.com.

Peabody Energy Equity Analysis

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) opened trading today as $3.84 and is trading in the range of 3.74-3.93 today. Peabody Energy’s current market cap stands at $1.07 billion.

Compared to other peers in the Industrial Metals & Minerals sector, Peabody Energy hasn’t performed in terms of quarterly revenue growth year over year at -0.05 vs. the industry average of 0.00.

Peabody Energy is currently covered by 23 Wall Street analysts. The mean target price is $7.37 according to First Call. This presents a solid upside to the current price of the equity. The Mean Recommendation sits at 2.8 which is based on 3 Strong Buy, 6 Buy and 10 Hold ratings.

The most recent analyst actions consisted of Imperial Capital downgrading the stock on May 1st and Cowen initiating coverage with an initiation rating back in April.

The current quarter EPS consensus estimate is -0.50 with revenue estimates of 1.50B. Sales are expected to drop at a 14.80% rate. Peabody Energy reported actual earnings last quarter of -0.62 which fails to beat the -0.32 consensus estimate, a -93.80% surprise.

Corporate Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation is engaged in the mining of coal. The company operates through Western U.S. Mining, Midwestern U.S. Mining, Australian Mining, Trading and Brokerage, and Corporate and Other segments. It is involved in mining and sale of thermal coal to electric utilities and metallurgical coal for industrial customers. The company own interests in 28 coal mining operations located in the United States and Australia, as well as owns non-controlling interest in a Venezuela mine. It is also engaged in marketing, trading, and brokerage of coal. In addition, the company operates a mine-mouth coal-fueled generating plant; manages its coal reserve and real estate holdings; and supports the development of Btu Conversion and clean coal technologies. As of December 31, 2013, it had 8.3 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.