Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $28.80 and last traded at $28.8630, with a volume of 407796 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ARLP shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Alliance Resource Partners from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alliance Resource Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alliance Resource Partners in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Alliance Resource Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.50.

Alliance Resource Partners Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The energy company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $535.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $556.82 million. Alliance Resource Partners had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 18.41%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliance Resource Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Alliance Resource Partners’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliance Resource Partners

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARLP. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 31,328 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 6,141 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new position in Alliance Resource Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Progeny 3 Inc. raised its stake in Alliance Resource Partners by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 3,282,671 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $76,256,000 after purchasing an additional 8,290 shares during the last quarter. Miller Value Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alliance Resource Partners by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Miller Value Partners LLC now owns 132,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,066,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 67,950 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 11,204 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.11% of the company’s stock.

About Alliance Resource Partners

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP) is a Tulsa, Oklahoma–based master limited partnership engaged in the production, marketing and transportation of bituminous coal. Through its subsidiaries, the company develops, owns and operates surface and underground coal mines, providing fuel primarily for electric power generation and various industrial applications. Alliance’s integrated business model covers the extraction of raw coal, processing at preparation plants and delivery to domestic and export customers.

The partnership operates multiple mining complexes across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.