Peabody Energy Investors Take Profits; Negative Seeking Alpha Article Weighs

Shares of the beaten-up coal player Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) gave up a large chunk of last week's gains Monday.

Peabody's stock price rose from around $7.44 at the close on December 21 to $9.62 on Christmas Eve, December 24. Most traders attributed the rebound from 52-week lows to an after-hours SEC filing on Monday of last week which disclosed that the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality finished its review of company-related permits needing renewal.

During Monday's session, traders focused on a negative article from Seeking Alpha entitled "Peabody Energy: A Distressed Short Opportunity."

The stock, which rallied nearly 30 percent over the holiday-shortened Christmas week, closed Monday's session down about 14.5 percent to $8.24. Volume was slightly higher than normal; about 1.13 million shares exchanged hands versus average daily volume of about 909,000 shares.