Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) Short Interest Up 15.1% in January

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,050,000 shares, a growth of 15.1% from the January 15th total of 2,650,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 388,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.8 days.

Insider Activity at Alliance Resource Partners

In other Alliance Resource Partners news, SVP Timothy J. Whelan sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 157,946 shares in the company, valued at $4,422,488. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 16.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliance Resource Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alliance Resource Partners in the third quarter valued at about $29,144,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alliance Resource Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,564,000. Castalian Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alliance Resource Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,353,000. Progeny 3 Inc. boosted its holdings in Alliance Resource Partners by 3.4% in the third quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 2,904,181 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $72,605,000 after purchasing an additional 96,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alliance Resource Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,493,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on ARLP shares. StockNews.com lowered Alliance Resource Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of Alliance Resource Partners in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Singular Research lowered Alliance Resource Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd.

Alliance Resource Partners Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARLP opened at $26.76 on Friday. Alliance Resource Partners has a 1-year low of $18.32 and a 1-year high of $30.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.88 and a 200-day moving average of $25.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.16.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The energy company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.38). Alliance Resource Partners had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 14.74%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alliance Resource Partners will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliance Resource Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Alliance Resource Partners’s payout ratio is 101.45%.

About Alliance Resource Partners

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., a diversified natural resource company, produces and markets coal primarily to utilities and industrial users in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Illinois Basin Coal Operations, Appalachia Coal Operations, Oil & Gas Royalties, and Coal Royalties.