Peabody Coal Doubles Buyback

Peabody (NYSE:BTU) reminds us people still need their products to light and heat their homes.

Peabody
Energy Corp. said Friday that it doubled the size of its buyback
program to $1 billion. "We have a backdrop of record earnings, strong
cash flows and ample liquidity," said Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Gregory Boyce. "The fundamentals of the business are sound, and
we maintain strong capacity to continue to grow the company." Peabody
has been purchasing its stock under the current plan since 2005. Shares
of Peabody closed Friday down 68% from their high this year of $88 a
share.

With a current market cap of $8 billion, this means Peabody is buying back 12% of the outstanding shares.