Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Hallador Energy (NASDAQ:HNRG)

Hallador Energy Company (NASDAQ:HNRG) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 6,448 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 302% compared to the typical volume of 1,605 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on HNRG. Zacks Research cut shares of Hallador Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $28.00 price target on Hallador Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Hallador Energy in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered shares of Hallador Energy to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, B. Riley downgraded shares of Hallador Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $15.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hallador Energy news, Director David C. Hardie sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.53, for a total value of $1,953,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $411,536.16. This trade represents a 82.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles Ray Iv Wesley purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.27 per share, for a total transaction of $305,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 234,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,587,136.78. The trade was a 9.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 372,062 shares of company stock valued at $7,232,705 over the last three months. Insiders own 23.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hallador Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $319,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Hallador Energy by 4.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,693,561 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $20,797,000 after acquiring an additional 65,652 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Hallador Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $1,126,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Hallador Energy by 356.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 273,300 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,356,000 after acquiring an additional 213,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Hallador Energy in the first quarter valued at $1,090,000. 61.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hallador Energy Price Performance

Shares of HNRG stock traded down $1.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $22.66. The stock had a trading volume of 405,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,958. The stock has a market capitalization of $974.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.53 and a beta of 0.44. Hallador Energy has a one year low of $8.37 and a one year high of $24.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

Hallador Energy (NASDAQ:HNRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The energy company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $146.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.92 million. Hallador Energy had a negative net margin of 46.61% and a positive return on equity of 11.58%. Equities analysts forecast that Hallador Energy will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Hallador Energy Company Profile

Hallador Energy Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production of steam coal in the State of Indiana for the electric power generation industry. The company owns the Oaktown Mine 1 and Oaktown Mine 2 underground mines in Oaktown; Freelandville Center Pit surface mine in Freelandville; and Prosperity Surface mine in Petersburg, Indiana.