Posts for Ticker ‘FCL’

Top Analyst Downgrades (ADBE, ABX, CVH, FCL, MSO, MIR, S, VZ)

These are this Wednesday’s top pre-market analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen from Wall Street firms:

Adobe Systems (ADBE) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Barrick Gold (ABX) Started as Reduce at Nomura.
Coventry Health (CVH) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Felcor Lodging (FCL) Started as Sell at Citigroup.
Martha Stewart (MSO) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Mirant (MIR) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Sprint Nextel (S) Cut to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Verizon Communication (VZ) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 16, 2009 – 8:18 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,

At Cliffs, Everybody Sacrifices in Prosperity (CLF, ANR, FCL)

In the wake of a poor first quarter report, iron ore producer Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLF), formerly known as Cleveland-Cliffs, has tightened its belt and the belts of all its shareholders. The company’s chairman, president, and CEO said that “we have asked all of our stakeholders to make sacrifices that will better position Cliffs to weather the direst of economic scenarios, while at the same time positioning the Company to take advantage of possible opportunities when the environment improves.”
Read More »

Posted on: May 13, 2009 – 7:51 am in Commodities, Dividend, Earnings, Metals, , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ANF, CE, FLEX, FCL, HD, HMIN, LNC, MRO, OSG, SON)

These are ten of the top analyst upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street we have seen early this Wednesday morning with more than two hours until the market opens for trading:

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Celanese (CE) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Flextronics (FLEX) Cuto Sell at Collins Stewart.
Foundation Coal (FCL) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Home Depot (HD) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Home Inns (HMIN) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Lincoln National (LNC) Raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
Marathon Oil (MRO) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Overseas Shipholding (OSG) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Sonoco Products (SON) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: May 13, 2009 – 6:27 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Coal Fields Merger Creates Big Player (ANR, FCL, CLF, KOL)

Coal ImageToday’s announcement of a merger between Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) and Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: FCL) creates the third-largest coal producer in the US. The all-stock deal is worth about $2 billion including $530 million in Foundation debt, with Alpha issuing 1.084 shares for each Foundation share at a value of $32.73/share, a 37% premium to Foundation’s closing price on May 8.
Read More »

Posted on: May 12, 2009 – 7:46 am in Commodities, Mergers and Buy Outs, , , ,

Ups and Downs in the Coal Mines (ACI, FCL, BTU)

Coal_imageArch Coal (NYSE:ACI) reported solid earnings for the third quarter today, but its share price has fallen more than 4% since the market opened this morning. Arch reported EPS of $0.68, compared with $0.19 in the year-ago quarter. Revenue totaled $769.46 million, up from $599.15 million a year ago. Analysts expected EPS of $0.59 and revenues of $764.09 million, so Arch exceeded in both categories.

Read More »

Posted on: October 27, 2008 – 10:05 am in Commodities, Earnings, , ,

CONSOL Guidance, A Canary In The Coal Sector (CNX, MEE, FCL, ACI, BTU, JRCC)

Coal_imageCONSOL Energy (NYSE:CNX) announced a dramatic change in its guidance for the third quarter. Production is expected reach just 15 million tons, well below even the low estimate of 16.4 million tons in previous guidance. Operating costs are also expected to rise 8%-10% from second quarter levels of $41.60/ton. Essentially, the company attributed lower production to poor execution and more frequent safety inspections. CONSOL did reaffirm production guidance for the fourth quarter of 17.8-19.8 million tons.

Just over a month ago, we noted the declines in coal stocks, and the situation has not improved. The biggest loser since then has been Massey (NYSE:MEE), down 40%, followed by Foundation Coal (NYSE:FCL), off 37%. Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI), Peabody (NYSE:BTU), James River (NASDAQ:JRCC), and CONSOL are down 22%-28%.

Read More »

Posted on: September 24, 2008 – 9:25 am in Commodities, Earnings Warning, , , , , ,

Coal Stocks Above 2007, But Valuation Risks Remain (ACI, BTU, CNX, FCL, MEE, KOL)

Coal_image_2In the past 52-weeks, the stock price of five large coal companies has risen anywhere from 50% to nearly 250%. But that’s still between 27% and 42% below annual highs that the companies reached in June. Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) has fallen 27% from its 52-week high, Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI) and Massey Energy (NYSE:MEE) have both dropped 32%, Foundation Coal (NYSE:FCL) has dropped 34%, and CONSOL Energy has lost 42%. In late June, Massey was up nearly 400% and CONSOL was up more than 200%.  These numbers may be slightly different based upon UBS’s upgrade to coal stocks this morning, but you will see the general idea below.

Read More »

Posted on: August 21, 2008 – 10:36 am in Commodities, ETF, Utilities, , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AAUK, ACI, BBT, CETV, FCL, JKHY, MEE, WCG)

These are some of the top upgrades or positive calls we are seeing from analysts this Thursday morning:

  • Anglo American (AAUK) Raised to Strong Buy at S&P (late Weds. call).
  • Arch Coal (ACI) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • BB&T Corp. (BBT) Raised to Buy at S&P.
  • Central European Media (CETV) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
  • Foundation Coal (FCL) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Jack Henry (JKHY) Cut to Hold at Needham; Cut to Neutral at D.A. Davidson.
  • Massee Energy (MEE) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • WellCare Group (WCG) Started as Buy at B of A.

Jon C. Ogg
August 21, 2008

Posted on: August 21, 2008 – 6:36 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,

Coal Stocks Key Off Arch Report (ACI, FCL, BTU, CNX)

This morning we saw Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI) report a tripling of earnings for the second quarter, $113 million compared with $37.6 million for the same period a year ago. The company reported EPS of $0.78, also up three-fold from $0.26 EPS last year. The stock was up more than 3% in pre-open trading and is up 9% mid-day. Arch’s report is also boosting Foundation Coal (NYSE:FCL) by about 8% and Peabody (NYSE:BTU) by more than 2.5%. Last week, Foundation posted a loss of $4.4 million for the second quarter, and Peabody posted a 143% gain in earnings. CONSOL Energy inc. (NYSE:CNX), which is scheduled to report next week, is up almost 5% in early trading.

Read More »

Posted on: July 25, 2008 – 12:04 pm in Commodities, Earnings, , , ,

Foundation Coal Reverses Coal Sector Gains (FCL, BTU, ACI, KOL)

On Monday, Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) announced strong first quarter results: 15% increase in revenue to a record $1.28 billion and EPS from continuing operations of $0.26. Peabody raised its full-year target by $500 million, and its EPS from continuing operations to $2.20 – $3.00. This boosted the whole coal industry by about 4%.

On Tuesday, Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI) announced a 22% increase over 2007 in first quarter revenue to $699.4 million, and EPS of $0.56, compared with $0.20 in 2007. The company raised its guidance for 2008 EBITDA to $745 – $845 million, and its EPS expectations to $2.40 – $2.80. That gave back the industry’s previous day’s gain.

But… Maybe not all good things run in three’s.  Today, Foundation Coal (NYSE:FCL) announced a clear miss on its report of $0.13 EPS, and excluding items the number was $0.19 EPS. While this was down from $0.53 last year, First Call estimates were $0.32 EPS. Revenue of $406.9 million exceeded estimates averaging $403.49 million, and improved on 2007 first quarter revenue of $386.2 million. The company did not change its guidance for the remainder of 2008.

Foundation’s net income for the first quarter of 2008 totaled $6.1 million, compared with $24.6 million a year ago. What happened? Higher diesel fuel costs, higher royalty payments, and higher labor costs accounted for a $17 million increase in the cost of sales. Another $14 million was attributed to a botched arbitrage transaction in which FCL had to buy about 300,000 tons of coal to meet existing commitments, expecting to sell new production on the spot market at a higher price. It didn’t work out that way.

FCL stock was down $1.64 in pre-open trading, and shares are down slightly more at $61.91 after 45 minutes of trading. Peabody has fallen by 3.7% to $66.01, and Arch (ACI) is down 1.5% at $58.15 so far. What goes up doesn’t always stay up.

What is evident is that the coal industry is not necessarily a series of unified parts.  Transportation costs can impact results, equipment shortages and accidents can impair companies, and we’ve even seen inability to transport materials out of the line affect coal shares in recent years.

To show how the overall sector is doing, the key ETF for the group is the Market Vectors Market Vectors Coal ETF (NYSE: KOL).  It has many international components in it, with five of the top ten components being outside the U.S.  To prove that, this ETF is actually UP by 0.5% at $45.50 on somewhat thin trading volume.  This ETF has just not yet caught on with investors.

Paul Ausick
April 23, 2008

Posted on: April 23, 2008 – 9:28 am in Commodities, , , ,

Goldman Sachs Pans Coal (ACI, FCL, ICO, BTU, MEE, CNX)

Goldman Sachs has downgraded its coverage in Coal Stocks this morning.   Goldman Sachs is basing this partly on the 30% gains seen, and valuations are stretched.

There were several downgraded from a Neutral rating down to SELL: Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI), Foundation Coal (NYSE: FCL), International Coal Group (NYSE: ICO), and Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE).  Two others escaped with a little more dignity, but these were still downgraded to Neutral ratings from Buy: Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) and Consolidated Energy (NYSE: CNX).

Jon C. Ogg
February 15, 2008

Posted on: February 15, 2008 – 7:45 am in Analyst Calls, Oil & Gas, , , , , , ,

Pre-Market Analyst calls (July 18, 2007)

ACI cut to Hold at Citigroup.
AKAM started as Outperform at FBR.
BAGL started as Outperform at Piper Jaffray.
BTU cut to Hold at Citigroup.
CPB raised to Outperform at Bernstein.
DAC started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
DSX started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
DVA cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
FBCM started as Buy at Jefferies.
FCL cut to Hold at Citigroup.
IMB cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
INTC cut to Mkt Perform at JMP Securities.
KEYS cut to Hold at BB&T.
KEYS cut to Mkt Perform at Morgan Keegan.
KND cut to Underperform at Wachovia.
LDK started as Outperform at CIBC.
LLNW started as Hold at Jefferies.
LLNW started as Mkt Perform at Piper jaffray.
MBRX cut to Hold at Jefferies.
OSG started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
PX started as Outperform at CIBC.
QMAR started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
RE cut to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
RSG cut to Mkt Perform at FBR.
SNDK raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
SNY raised to Overweight at HSBC.
SSW started as neutral at Credit Suisse.
TK started as neutral at Credit Suisse.
TNP started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
TOT cut to Neutral at JP Morgan.
WLL raised to Buy at KeyBanc/McDonald.

Jon C. Ogg
July 18, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: July 18, 2007 – 6:47 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,