Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Separately, Benchmark boosted their price objective on Alliance Resource Partners from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Alliance Resource Partners Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARLP opened at $26.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Alliance Resource Partners has a 1-year low of $18.32 and a 1-year high of $27.80.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The energy company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.16). Alliance Resource Partners had a net margin of 18.52% and a return on equity of 23.74%. The company had revenue of $613.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alliance Resource Partners will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliance Resource Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.43%. Alliance Resource Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliance Resource Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NFC Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 28.5% in the 1st quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 68,100 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 15,100 shares during the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $23,567,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $254,000. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 156,734 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,143,000 after buying an additional 38,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 18.11% of the company’s stock.

Alliance Resource Partners Company Profile

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.