American Resources Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:AREC)

American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 16,691 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 164% compared to the average daily volume of 6,331 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Resources

In related news, major shareholder Properties Ltd. Golden sold 290,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.13, for a total transaction of $1,197,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,288,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,492,876.16. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 2,564,818 shares of company stock valued at $10,405,579 in the last quarter. 16.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of American Resources in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Belvedere Trading LLC purchased a new stake in American Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Creative Planning raised its holdings in American Resources by 65.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 37,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in American Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in American Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AREC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of American Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of American Resources in a research report on Monday, October 13th. William Blair began coverage on shares of American Resources in a report on Monday, October 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, D. Boral Capital initiated coverage on shares of American Resources in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

American Resources Stock Performance

Shares of AREC traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $2.64. 5,731,784 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,964,313. The stock has a market cap of $262.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.41 and a beta of 1.15. American Resources has a 1-year low of $0.38 and a 1-year high of $7.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.53 and a 200-day moving average of $1.99.

American Resources (NASDAQ:AREC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $0.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.01 million. Research analysts anticipate that American Resources will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About American Resources

American Resources Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, extracts, processes, transports, and sells metallurgical coal to the steel and industrial industries. It supplies raw materials; and sells coal used in pulverized coal injections. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Fishers, Indiana.