Short Interest in Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) Drops By 8.1%

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,520,000 shares, a drop of 8.1% from the September 15th total of 3,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 280,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.6 days. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ARLP. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Alliance Resource Partners from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com lowered Alliance Resource Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliance Resource Partners

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARLP. Progeny 3 Inc. boosted its stake in Alliance Resource Partners by 2.8% during the second quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 2,807,401 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $68,669,000 after buying an additional 75,340 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 89.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 72,099 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 34,106 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $790,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91,771 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $226,000. 18.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alliance Resource Partners Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARLP opened at $24.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.58. Alliance Resource Partners has a fifty-two week low of $18.32 and a fifty-two week high of $26.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The energy company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $593.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $624.72 million. Alliance Resource Partners had a net margin of 21.04% and a return on equity of 27.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alliance Resource Partners will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Alliance Resource Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.27%. Alliance Resource Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.27%.

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.