UPDATE: Brean Capital Initiates Westmoreland Coal After Sherritt Acquisition

In a report published Monday, Brean Capital analyst Lucas Pipes initiated coverage on Westmoreland Coal Company WLB with a Buy rating and $22.00 price target. According to the report, the analysts believe WLB is an attractive cash-flow story that provides investors with unique exposure to the North American thermal coal space. The proven surface mine operator company has recently grown through prudent acquisitions. “Just earlier this week, the company announced an agreement to acquire Sherritt's Canadian coal assets in Alberta and Saskatchewan for $435 million,” the report said. Upon closing, Westmoreland Coal will be the 6th largest coal producer in North America with annualized EBITDA of $200 million in our estimates.” With the steady demand from baseload power plants and West Coast export optionality, the analysts believe WLB provides investors with attractive and consistent positive cash flows (roughly $100M unlevered FCF annually), despite tough times across the domestic thermal coal industry. WLB closed Friday at $18.40 with shares trading up at 1.27%.