Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, coal producer Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Arch Coal's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Arch Coal facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | St. Louis (1969) |
| Market Cap | $5.52 billion |
| Industry | Coal and consumable fuels |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $3.19 billion |
| Management |
Chairman/CEO Steven Leer CFO John Drexler |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | 10.4% |
| Cash/Debt | $93.59 million / $1.61 billion |
| Dividend Yield | 1.2% |
| Competitors |
CONSOL Energy (NYSE: CNX) Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE) Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 96% of the 1,312 members who have rated Arch Coal the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Grizcpa and All-Star DarthMaul09, who is ranked in the top 2% of our community.
Just last month, Grizcpa tapped Arch Coal as a great way to bet on the black stuff: "Coal will need to account for any increase in electrical consumption over the next ten years because wind and solar will be insufficient, nuclear will be too hard to bring to market and natural gas will be focused on other uses."
Currently, Arch Coal even sports a particularly paltry PEG of 0.2. That's a clear discount to rivals CONSOL (1.6), Massey (1.9), and Peabody (0.6).
CAPS All-Star DarthMaul09 elaborated at the end of 2010 on the bull case:
If oil prices and metal commodities continue to rise, coal producers will likely benefit as well. With so much money being generated in the mining and energy sectors, it would not be surprising if M&A activity triggers a speculative rise in some of these stocks.
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