Peabody Energy Corporation (BTU) & Other Coal Stocks Gain Ground Amid Supreme Court Ruling; Do Hedge Funds Love Coal Stocks?

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Due to their small sizes, Arch Coal Inc (NYSE:ACI) and Walter Energy have not attracted a lot of attention from big investors. In addition, the data show a significant outflow of capital from both companies registered in the first three months of the year. In Arch Coal, 13 funds held $12.78 million worth of stock at the end of March, versus 14 funds with $21.78 million in stock a quarter earlier. However, the decline in the aggregate value of the positions can be attributed to the drop of the stock, since there haven’t been many major changes among the holdings. Douglas Dethy’s DC Capital Partners with 5.0 million shares is the largest stockholder of Arch Coal Inc (NYSE:ACI), among the investors we track, followed by Robert Vollero And Gentry T. Beach’s Vollero Beach Capital Partners, which upped its stake by 430% to 2.46 million shares, which is the only large increase registered in the first quarter. In addition, among billionaires, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management cut its stake by 67% to some 253,800 shares, while Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies initiated a position with 250,200 shares of Arch Coal Inc (NYSE:ACI) during the first three months of 2015.

In Walter Energy, Inc. (NYSE:WLT), the number of funds with long positions declined to 12 from 16, but the total value of their positions slid to only $3.83 million from $14.43 million at the end of December. A number of investors closed previously held stakes during the first quarter, including Randall Smith’s Alden Global Capital, which owned 2.44 million shares at the end of December (it was the largest stake among the funds we track at the time). Ari Zweiman’s 683 Capital Partners, Millennium Management, GRT Capital Partners were also among the investors closing their positions in Walter Energy, Inc. (NYSE:WLT) during the first three months. On the other hand, Renaissance Technologies initiated a stake with 358,700 shares and another billionaire, David E. Shaw’s D.E. Shaw upped its holding by 150% to 319,500 shares during the same period.

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