Peabody Energy Dumped From S&P 500; Coal Sector Market Cap Down 63% Since 4/11 Peak
King Coal and industry multinational Peabody Energy (BTU) have taken a beating in the markets lately, and it has some executives in the dirty energy industry freaking out.
On September 19, Dow Jones removed Peabody Energy from its S&P 500 index, considered a list of the premier U.S. stocks for investors. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch cited the downward trajectory of the company's market capitalization as the rationale behind the ouster of Peabody from the S&P 500 index. Peabody will now join the JV leagues in the S&P MidCap 400.
Peabody's downfall symbolizes ongoing market trends within the coal industry overall.
“The total market value of publicly traded U.S. coal companies has rebounded slightly in recent months, but remains nearly 63% lower than a total of the same companies at a near-term coal market peak in April 2011,” explained SNL Energy in April.
EDIT
http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/09/23/peabody-booted-sp-500-king-coal-defensive
