Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (CLD) In the Spotlight Due to President Trump’s Executive Order

Published on March 29, 2017 at 10:26 am by Insider Monkey Team in News

Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE:CLD) is in the spotlight after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to curb the U.S. federal government’s enforcement of various climate regulations initiated by his predecessor. President Trump is doing so to put American jobs first, which to him is more important than regulating global temperature changes. In particular, Trump’s executive order will remove the moratorium on the mining of coal on U.S. federal land, initiate a Federal review of the Clean Power Plan initiative, and aim to loosen energy regulations. Many traders expect Trump’s policies to favor coal activity, whose constituents supported the President in the election.

Sentiment in Cloud Peak has improved of late, in part due to the Trump executive order and in part due to higher natural gas prices. Shares of Cloud Peak have rallied from the high $3’s to over $4.5 in early morning trading.

What Does The Smart Money Sentiment Say?

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Of the 742 elite funds we track, 19 funds owned $54.36 million of Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE:CLD) and accounted for 15.80% of the float on December 31, up from 13 funds and $43.07 million respectively on September 30. Among the new fund holders include Jeffrey Gendell‘s Tontine Asset Management, which initiated a new stake of 1.33 million shares.

The Bottom Line

While the combination of strict regulations and low natural gas prices hurt Big Coal under President Obama, Trump is rolling back the former and the latter’s futures price has risen nicely lately. The combination has improved sentiment, which has caused Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE:CLD) shares to bounce. In the long term, Cloud Peak shareholders will need natural gas prices to be strong and for Asian coal demand to remain robust in order for shares to do well.