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 increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,050,000 shares, an increase of 15.1% from the January 15th total of 2,650,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading 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 business’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 157,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,422,488. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 16.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliance Resource Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Castalian Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners in the fourth quarter worth $3,353,000. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC increased its stake in Alliance Resource Partners by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 7,278 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Miller Value Partners LLC increased its stake in Alliance Resource Partners by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Miller Value Partners LLC now owns 127,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in Alliance Resource Partners by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 10,455 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orvieto Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Alliance Resource Partners in the fourth quarter valued at $2,070,000. 18.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Alliance Resource Partners Stock Performance

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

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 14.74%. As a group, analysts predict that Alliance Resource Partners will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliance Resource Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.46%. Alliance Resource Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.