Posts for Ticker ‘KOL’

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

Peabody Tanking Coal (BTU, KOL)

coal-image1For the first quarter of 2009, Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE:BTU) has reported EPS of $0.63 on revenue of $1.46 billion from 59.6 million tons of coal sold. Analysts estimates averaged an EPS of $0.93 on $1.62 billion in revenue.  The reaction here is enough that it is affecting the Market Vectors Coal ETF (NYSE: KOL).

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Posted on: April 15, 2009 – 8:05 am in Commodities, Earnings, ,

Coal Prices Falling; Will Iron Ore Follow? (BHP, KOL)

coal-image2The FT reports that contracts between some large coal producers and steel and power companies show coal prices falling by as much as 60% Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE:BHP) and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation have reportedly agreed to a coking coal price of $128-$129/metric ton with Nippon Steel. That is down almost 60% from last year’s price.
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Posted on: March 24, 2009 – 8:32 am in Commodities, ,

Solar’s Shade: Nero or Blackout? (FSLR, JASO, LDK, SPWRA, TAN, KOL, XLE, USO)

solar-panel-pic5Notwithstanding a solid fourth quarter and an up year, First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) is off more than 15% in early trading this morning. We noted its strong earnings report yesterday, but warned that guidance for 2009 was the important missing piece.  This is pressuring other solar stocks and is coinciding with moves in other sectors. It shows that even an Obama-favorite industry might not be able to escape the reality of the business climate.
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Posted on: February 25, 2009 – 10:31 am in Green Biz, Trading Alert, Utilities, , , , , , , ,

Peabody Loving Coal (BTU, KOL)

Coal_imagePeabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) reported a huge fourth quarter this morning, and the stock is up around 12% as a result. For the full 2008 fiscal year, Peabody reported EPS of $3.63 on income of $948.8 million and revenue of nearly $6.6 billion. Shares of other coal companies are up as well, and even the Market Vectors Coal ETF (NYSE: KOL) is up almost 4% on the news.

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Posted on: January 27, 2009 – 10:21 am in Commodities, Earnings, ,

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.

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

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 Shovels Coal (ACI, CNX, KOL)

Goldman Sachs is panning the coal sector again this morning.  It sees downside to coal stocks after a run since the start of 2008 as coal production will come online faster than many bulls believe.  The firm also thinks that the incentive of profits at current spot coal prices will win over the barriers to entry.  It particularly wants to sell Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI)and it noted Consolidated Energy (NYSE: CNX) as well.

Back on February 15, Goldman Sachs downgraded the sector based on valuations, and you can see the individual calls on ACI, FCL, ICO, BTU, MEE, and CNX.

As a reminder, there is also the Market Vectors Coal ETF (NYSE: KOL) that just launched in mid-January.

Jon C. Ogg
March 12, 2008

Posted on: March 12, 2008 – 7:07 am in Uncategorized, , ,

ETF Launch: Coal, Via Van Eck (KOL, CNX, BTU, ACI, JOYG, BUCY, TA)

This morning we have another ETF being launched that is quite sector specific.  Van Eck Associated has listed the Market Vectors Coal ETF (NYSE: KOL).  While we have noted some ETF’s being too focused for their own good, this will allow investors to be long or short coal producers without having to guess on which individual stocks will or won’t win in a volatile sector.  The ETF is unique and quite specific to global coal company stocks.

The Coal ETF seeks to replicate the total return performance of the Stowe Coal Index. The Index provides targeted exposure to 60 companies worldwide that are engaged in the coal industry.  Estimated returns will track the sector after fees and expenses and of course is subject to the risks of investing in this sector.  The gross expense ratio is listed as 1.09% and the net expense ratio is listed as 0.65%.

If you wish to the full list of components you can see it on the Fact Sheet at Van Eck’s website.  Of the ETF’s top 10 holding, 6 of the 10 are listed in the US (with ticker and weighting percentage):

  • Consol Energy (CNX) 8.06%
  • Peabody Energy (BTU) 7.95%
  • Arch Coal (ACI) 4.69%
  • Joy Global (JOYG) 4.62%
  • Bucyrus Int’l (BUCY) 4.41%
  • Transalta (TA) 4.35%

When you include the four of the top 10 not listed above (as foreign holdings) the top 10 stocks out the approximate 60 names listed in the index account for a weighting of roughly 62.4% of the entire ETF.  This will change through time due to share price changes, rebalancings, IPO’s, and a myriad of other factors, but this was the weighting listed on the site.  The commencing price of this ETF was at $40.00.

Jon C. Ogg
January 14, 2008

Posted on: January 14, 2008 – 10:15 am in ETF, , , , , , ,