PCX - Sector: Energy---Industry: Coal

[setravis]

Profile:  

 
Patriot Coal Corporation
12312 Olive Boulevard
Suite 400
St. Louis, MO 63141
United States - Map
Phone: 314-275-3600
Web Site: http://www.patriotcoal.com

DETAILS  
Index Membership: S&P 400 MidCap
S&P 1500 Super Comp
Sector: Basic Materials
Industry: Industrial Metals & Minerals
Full Time Employees: 4,300


BUSINESS SUMMARY  
Patriot Coal Corporation engages in the production and sale of thermal coal in the United States. It has operations and coal reserves in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin. The company provides its thermal coal to electric utilities, as well as metallurgical coal to steel mills and independent coke producers. It has 16 company-operated mines, contractor-operated mines, and coal preparation facilities that are located in northern West Virginia, southern West Virginia, and western Kentucky. As of December 31, 2008, the company controlled approximately 1.8 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. Patriot Coal Corporation, through its subsidiary, Magnum Coal Company, operates 11 coal mines and 7 preparation plants with production from surface and underground mines located in Appalachia, as well as controls approximately 600 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves. The company is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

[setravis]

Coal stocks are a buy now...News on JRCC and earnings beat!!!

Citigroup raised its rating of Patriot from "Sell" to "Hold" and revised its price target from $4 per share to $7. The stock closed the session up 22% to $7.68.
Coal stocks are a buy now...News on JRCC and earnings beat!!!

PCX is valued at discount with a PEG value of 0.2529, one of the lowest in the coal industry, which is supported by a PE of 2.5292 that is also among the lowest in the industry.

The coal sector caught fire today, helped in part by strong first-quarter earnings
from Patriot Coal.
The company reported profits of $0.41 per share - $0.95 better than consensus expectations of a $0.54-per-share loss. Revenues jumped 86% year-over-year to $528.9 million, whereas analysts were expecting slightly better revenues of $539 million.

According to Briefing.com, on the conference call Patriot admitted the coal market was very depressed. It expects a slow recovery beginning at the end of 2009, led by electricity and the steel market. Executives also pointed to the Obama administration's so-called "right" balance of low-cost energy, which will ultimately require more coal. It expects to sell between 34 and 36 million tons in 2009.


52wk Range: 2.76 - 82.23
Volume: 16,255,059
Avg Vol (3m): 4,039,600
Market Cap: 600.12M
P/E (ttm): 3.37
EPS (ttm): 2.28
Div & Yield: N/A (N/A)

Technicals
Record Volume
Most Actives
Percentage Gainer

Last Price Quote is:
55.37%above 13-day MA
62.77%above 50-day MA
RS Rating: 83 

Fundamentals
Key Data:
Market Cap (M): $400.95 
P/E Ratio: 2.54 
PEG Ratio: N/A 
Next Earnings: 07/28/2009
Last Analyst Rating: Hold

Patriot Coal received a lot of attention today...
Those bullish might wish to take a look at the below chart.


Falling Wedge (Reversal) Pattern.
Breakout...

The falling wedge is a bullish pattern that begins wide at the top and contracts as prices move lower. This price action forms a cone that slopes down as the reaction highs and reaction lows converge. In contrast to symmetrical triangles, which have no definitive slope and no bias, falling wedges definitely slope down and have a bullish bias. However, this bullish bias cannot be realized until a resistance breakout.

The falling wedge can also fit into the continuation category. As a continuation pattern, the falling wedge will still slope down, but the slope will be against the prevailing uptrend. As a reversal pattern, the falling wedge slopes down and with the prevailing trend. Regardless of the type (reversal or continuation), falling wedges are regarded as bullish patterns.

As with rising wedges, the falling wedge can be one of the most difficult chart patterns to accurately recognize and trade. When lower highs and lower lows form, as in a falling wedge, a security remains in a downtrend. The falling wedge is designed to spot a decrease in downside momentum and alert technicians to a potential trend reversal. Even though selling pressure may be diminishing, demand does not win out until resistance is broken. As with most patterns, it is important to wait for a breakout and combine other aspects of technical analysis to confirm signals.

[setravis]

Ground Control to Major Coal...

In an industrial-strength version of Bowie's Space Oddity, the coal sector appears to be floating in a most peculiar way. Back here at ground control, this Fool thinks there might be something wrong. Can you hear me, Major Coal?

Coal mining stocks have been on an absolute tear in recent days, bolstered by dramatic reversals of analysts' sentiments and morsels of positive news from miners like Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX). Patriot shares have doubled during the last five trading days, Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE) has surged some 70%, and even the Market Vectors Coal ETF (NYSE: KOL) is up more than 30%

For insight, let's peek at last week's earnings from Patriot Coal, which was spun off from Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) in 2007. Patriot delighted the market with an improved liquidity outlook and net profit of $32.1 million.  After the wild ride Patriot shares have endured, an improved outlook for survival as debt concerns abate is indeed cause for celebration.

Looking forward, Patriot issued guidance that implies flat gross margins for the remainder of 2009. Contracted prices for Appalachian coal average $58 per ton, compared to expected costs of $56 to $59 per ton. For the Illinois Basin, prices of $38 per ton will be offset by costs of $35 to $38 per ton. As a final note of caution, Patriot also echoed competitors by noting that clients are requesting deferrals of contracted volumes of both thermal and metallurgical coal.

[setravis]

•Coal stocks soar after Goldman upgrade
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of coal stocks soared on Monday after Goldman Sachs upgraded the sector based on expectations that coal prices will improve and economic growth in China will spur demand.
While China will likely have little impact on U.S. coal demand in 2009, Singer believes greater demand for steel and coal from China could improve the metallurgical coal supply and demand balance and boost metallurgical coal prices.

Other positive news, Singer noted, is the firm's belief that steel production will improve in the second half of 2009, which could lead to improved coal demand in 2010, compared with 2009 levels. Also, an expected rise in natural gas over the next six months should boost coal prices, Singer said
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I remain decidedly bullish on the long-term outlook for coal...
Breakout!



52wk Range: 2.76 - 82.23
Volume: 14,489,726
Avg Vol (3m): 4,039,600
Market Cap: 730.62M
P/E (ttm): 4.10
EPS (ttm): 2.28
Div & Yield: N/A (N/A)

Technicals
Record Volume
Most Actives
Gap Up
Percentage Gainer

Last Price Quote is:
76.22%above 13-day MA
94.44%above 50-day MA
RS Rating: 88 

Fundamentals
Key Data:
Market Cap (M): $600.25 
P/E Ratio: 3.08 
PEG Ratio: N/A 
Next Earnings: 07/28/2009
Last Analyst Rating: Hold

[setravis]

updated chart look...

[setravis]

The run up...
Of the 1 year chart

[setravis]

Which Coal Stock Heavyweight Will Outperform?

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Even as the world braces for Chinese fiscal policy tightening, the country grows at a rate that the world can hardly keep up with. Like a hungry adolescent, China today needs to be fed constantly.

"India can no longer supply all their coal requirements," says Nick Raffan of Sydney-based independent stock research company Fat Prophets. Meanwhile, major coal exporter Indonesia has been reserving a good portion of its resources for the country's own internal needs. China's coal industry, for its part, is currently far from being self-reliant right. According to an earnings statement from mining company Joy Global(JOYG), "China's shortage of coal production and rail bottlenecks created the need to substantially increase imports of thermal and metallurgical coal. China was self-sufficient in metallurgical coal until 2009, when imports surged to over 30 million metric tons."
Thus, if India and Indonesia can't do it alone, can Australia? Not likely. Due to infrastructure problems like insufficient port or rail infrastructure, even this major coal exporter currently can't load its coal fast enough. These infrastructure problems are "not being alleviated as fast as China is growing," Raffan says.
It would seem that there simply aren't enough hands available to feed a sufficient quantity of coal to China -- which is, of course, great news for coal producers around the world who could benefit from China's voracious appetite.


And China is hardly the sole variable in the bullish equation for the coal industry; pretty much the whole world is part of it. Raffan says if we leave out developed Europe, some of the increases that we've seen in industrial production figures lately have been "quite extraordinary."
"Outside of Europe we're not doing so badly," Raffin says. Durable goods, for example, are picking up in the U.S., and auto sales and production are picking up worldwide. "So I think the world's going to be lot more positive ... and definitely going to next year."


In light of all this, we now ask readers of TheStreet: Bearing in mind these bullish indicators for the coal industry, which mining stocks do you think will stand to benefit the most?
More on ACI Commerce Bancshares Chair Sells $17.8M WorthArch, Peabody Anticipate Carbon RulesFind a Good Coal Stock Dividend Before we get to this poll, let's first make some initial introductions on behalf of each mining stock contender, which we've reviewed in this coal-sector earnings preview. To wit....


Arch Coal (ACI) provides approximately 16% of the U.S.'s coal supply from the company's 11 mining complexes in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. Arch Coal produced more than 180 million tons of pro forma coal sales in 2008, and supplied U.S. utilities with the fuel for about 8% of the country's electricity.
Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) is the U.S.'s third-largest coal producer, turning out almost 100 million tons of steam and metallurgical coal. Alpha produces, processes, and sells steam and metallurgical coal from more than 60 mines and 14 coal preparation facilities situated throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Wyoming, and also is involved in the buying and resale of coal mined by others.
Consol Energy(CNX) is the biggest producer of high-Btu bituminous coal in the U.S. and also produces coalbed methane gas. Consol Energy subsidiary CNX Gas is the largest producer of natural gas in the Appalachian Basin.


Massey Energy (MEE) is the fourth largest coal company in the U.S. and the largest in Central Appalachia, when considering produced coal revenue. Massey has 2.3 billion tons of high-quality coal reserves and in 2007 sold almost 40 million tons of coal.

Patriot Coal (PCX) produces and markets coal in the eastern U.S. through 14 mining complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin. Patriot ships to domestic and international electric utilities, industrial customers and metallurgical coal customers, and controls about 1.8 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves.

[setravis]

Patriot Coal(PCX) produces and markets coal in the eastern U.S. with 14 mining complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin. Patriot ships to domestic and international electric utilities, industrial customers and metallurgical coal customers, and controls about 1.8 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. Patriot Coal reported earnings of $10.9 million, or 12 cents a share, for the fourth quarter on revenue of $503.2 million, compared with $63.4 million, or 82 cents a share, on revenue of $541 million a year earlier amid a restructuring and impairment charge related to coal reserves and infrastructure. Excluding one-off items, Patriot reported a loss of 38 cents a share versus the consensus estimate of a 40 cents a share loss.
After Patriot published its fourth-quarter report, Stifel Nicolaus upped its loss per share estimate from $1.10 to $1.33 versus the consensus loss per share estimate of $1.06 for 2010, as it expressed worries about negative mid- to long-term views for Patriot's volumes and rising legacy liability costs.
Stifel Nicolaus notes that it would like to await further signs of improved pricing for Appalachian metallurgical and thermal coal, given that it believes Patriot's place as an important Appalachian metallurgical and thermal coal producer offers big earnings potential in 2010 to 2011 if these markets get better. Citi upholds a sell opinion on the Patriot Coal stock and $13 price target due to Patriot's "disadvantaged cost position and lack of near-term profitability due to below-market thermal coal contracts."





52wk Range: 2.76 - 22.37
Volume: 5,368,834
Avg Vol (3m): 6,461,550
Market Cap: 1.84B
P/E (ttm): 13.56
EPS (ttm): 1.49
Div & Yield: N/A (N/A)


Technicals
Last Price Quote is:
4.71%above 13-day MA
16.01%above 50-day MA
RS Rating: 95 

Fundamentals
Earnings Expected on Apr 22

Key Data:
Market Cap (M): $1,969.16 
P/E Ratio: 14.42 
PEG Ratio: N/A 
Next Earnings: 04/22/2010
Last Analyst Rating: Buy


1 year chary below...

[setravis]

Patriot will sell 1.5M tons of coal in Pacific Rim
Patriot Coal enters deal with Asian steel mills, says metallurgical shipments are up in 2010

On Tuesday March 16, 2010, 2:17 pm EDT
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Patriot Coal Corp. said Tuesday it agreed to sell 1.5 million tons of metallurgical coal to steel mills in the Pacific Rim region.

Patriot said the coal will be delivered from April 2010 through early 2011 and will come from the Panther and Winchester mines in West Virginia.

The company said it may have opportunities to sell more coal in Asia later in the year.

As a result of the deal, Patriot said it expects to ship more than 7 million tons of metallurgical coal in 2010. That's up about 30 percent from 2009.

In afternoon trading, Patriot stock rose 94 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $20.13.

[setravis]

Cup with Handel (continuation) Pattern...Baby !
good entry point on pullback


52wk Range: 3.00 - 22.37
Volume: 8,415,650
Avg Vol (3m): 6,587,870
Market Cap: 1.84B
P/E (ttm): 13.62
EPS (ttm): 1.49
Div & Yield: N/A (N/A


Technicals
Close Below the 13-day MA
Percentage Gainer

Last Price Quote is:
5.00%above 13-day MA
15.84%above 50-day MA
RS Rating: 95 

Fundamentals
Earnings Expected on Apr 22

Key Data:
Market Cap (M): $1,838.31 
P/E Ratio: 13.46 
PEG Ratio: N/A 
Next Earnings: 04/22/2010
Last Analyst Rating: Buy

6 month charts below...

[setravis]

Analysts Are Completely Wrong About These Stocks

Canary in a coal mine...
It's not so much sales that has analysts concerned about Patriot Coal, but rather the regulatory environment it's operating in. After the Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE) mine explosion earlier this year, the government's regulatory process slowed to a crawl. Not only were Patriot's margins hurt, but those of Consol Energy and Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) were affected as well.

Yet analysts remain giddy over Consol, but not Patriot, as the latter has suffered setbacks at several mining operations. Its Federal mine was idled for two weeks for installation of new ventilation equipment ordered by regulators, and the Federal and Panther mines had equipment issues. Goldman Sachs didn't like the reduced volumes the company expected while Brean Murray thinks the prices Patriot will get for its metallurgical coal will come under pressure.

The company maintains that those are now rearview issues, and with its new Black Oak mine coming online, Patriot is optimistic about 2011 -- even pricing should be stronger next year.



Day's Range: 14.64 - 15.33
52wk Range: 9.76 - 24.25
Volume: 6,936,725
Avg Vol (3m): 3,678,220
Market Cap: 1.39B

Technicals
Last Price Quote is:
9.69%above 13-day MA
16.76%above 50-day MA
RS Rating: 79 

[setravis]

Insider Trading Insiders Trading PCX, PSUN, MTXX, TLAB


Day's Range: 24.05 - 25.00
52wk Range: 9.76 - 25.00
Volume: 3,058,708
Avg Vol (3m): 5,328,060
Market Cap: 2.26B
P/E (ttm): N/A
EPS (ttm): -0.49
Div & Yield: N/A (N/A)

Technicals
Record Price High
Most Actives
Record Price Break Out
Gap Up
Percentage Gainer

Last Price Quote is:
20.00%above 13-day EMA
41.66%above 50-day EMA
RS Rating: 97