Benchmark Reiterates Buy Rating for Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP)

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Benchmark in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $29.00 price target on the energy company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $27.00. Benchmark’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 3.06% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on ARLP. StockNews.com lowered Alliance Resource Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Singular Research lowered shares of Alliance Resource Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd.

Alliance Resource Partners Stock Up 0.6 %

ARLP opened at $28.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.16. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $26.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.63. Alliance Resource Partners has a fifty-two week low of $18.32 and a fifty-two week high of $30.56.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The energy company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.38). Alliance Resource Partners had a net margin of 18.52% and a return on equity of 23.74%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alliance Resource Partners will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Timothy J. Whelan sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $280,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 157,946 shares of the company’s stock, 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 link. 16.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliance Resource Partners

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARLP. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Alliance Resource Partners by 48.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,446 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 7,321 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 2,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 67,675 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after acquiring an additional 64,968 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Alliance Resource Partners by 89.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 72,099 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,764,000 after acquiring an additional 34,106 shares during the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alliance Resource Partners during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,144,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Alliance Resource Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,500,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.11% of the company’s stock.

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.