Is CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) A Good Stock to Buy?

Alpha, Arch, and Walter have been in even more trouble however, with each experiencing at least a 20% fall in revenue in its most recent quarter compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. All three are also popular short targets, with at least 15% of the float held short and over 30% of the float held short in the case of Walter; as we’d implied earlier, analysts expect all three to be unprofitable next year even with the improved industry conditions which are supposed to help CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX) and Peabody. We would note that Walter currently makes quarterly dividend payments of 12.5 cents per share, which makes for an annual yield of 5% at current prices; Arch Coal also features a yield above 3% at this time. Still, these three companies are doing poorly enough in terms of their business that we would avoid them, and of course the fact that analysts are negative on next year’s performance is not a good sign either.

CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX) does seem to be the strongest coal stock given that it is actually turning in profits (with a loss in Q1, but only a small one) and is expected to do so this year and next year. Still, we don’t feel as optimistic about the industry as Wall Street analysts do and particularly with the most recent report being weak we would want to see another quarter or two of results before actually considering it as a possible turnaround stock.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.