Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Alliance Resource Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Alliance Resource Partners from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Alliance Resource Partners Stock Performance

Alliance Resource Partners stock opened at $25.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.22. Alliance Resource Partners has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $29.45.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The energy company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $551.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $554.30 million. Alliance Resource Partners had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 12.25%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alliance Resource Partners will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliance Resource Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.4%. Alliance Resource Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.07%.

Insider Activity at Alliance Resource Partners

In other Alliance Resource Partners news, Director Ronna R. Mcdaniel acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.11 per share, with a total value of $78,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,330. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 16.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliance Resource Partners

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARLP. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Alliance Resource Partners by 95.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,363,174 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $78,127,000 after buying an additional 1,641,741 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 145.9% during the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 737,328 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $20,387,000 after acquiring an additional 437,486 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 668,000 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $15,518,000 after acquiring an additional 289,900 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 1,636.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 268,637 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,792,000 after acquiring an additional 253,165 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners during the 1st quarter worth about $6,830,000. 18.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliance Resource Partners Company Profile

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP) is a Tulsa, Oklahoma–based master limited partnership engaged in the production, marketing and transportation of bituminous coal. Through its subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates surface and underground coal mines, providing fuel primarily for electric power generation and various industrial applications. Alliance’s integrated business model covers the extraction of raw coal, processing at preparation plants and delivery to domestic and export customers.

The partnership operates multiple mining complexes across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.