Equities research analysts at Global Hunter Securities initiated coverage on shares of Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a “neutral” rating on the stock.
The analysts wrote, “We are initiating coverage on ACI with a Neutral rating. We project that ACI will lose money the next 3-6 quarters. Based on its average EV/EBITDA multiple over the last three years of 8.9x multiplied by our 2013 EBITDA estimate it would represent $13.79 per share, but using our more traditional 6.5x multiple would derive $5.08 per share. We are not assigning a price target at this time.”
Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) cut their price target on shares of Arch Coal to $8.00 in a research note to investors on Friday, May 25th. Separately, analysts at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) upgraded shares of Arch Coal from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Thursday, May 24th. They now have a $8.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) upgraded shares of Arch Coal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Monday, May 14th. They now have a $11.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $12.00. They noted that the move was a valuation call.
Arch Coal traded down 6.37% on Thursday, hitting $6.47. Arch Coal has a 52-week low of $6.77 and a 52-week high of $28.80. The company has a market cap of $1.373 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03.
Arch Coal last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.26. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Arch Coal will post $-0.14 earnings per share next quarter.
Arch Coal, Inc. (Arch) is a coal producer. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company sold approximately 156.
