Alliance Resource Partners' (ARLP) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by investment analysts at Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $29.00 target price on the energy company's stock. Benchmark's price objective indicates a potential upside of 6.95% from the company's previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Alliance Resource Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday.

Alliance Resource Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARLP traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.12. The stock had a trading volume of 146,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,271. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.62. Alliance Resource Partners has a twelve month low of $21.55 and a twelve month high of $30.56.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The energy company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $540.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.31 million. Alliance Resource Partners had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 14.74%. Research analysts predict that Alliance Resource Partners will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alliance Resource Partners

In other news, SVP Timothy J. Whelan sold 50,000 shares of Alliance Resource Partners stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.13, for a total value of $1,256,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 93,850 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,450.50. This trade represents a 34.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 16.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARLP. Progeny 3 Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 2,942,211 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $77,351,000 after acquiring an additional 38,030 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Alliance Resource Partners by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,815,453 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $47,728,000 after purchasing an additional 44,636 shares in the last quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alliance Resource Partners by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,151,070 shares of the energy company's stock worth $30,262,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners during the fourth quarter worth $14,564,000. Finally, Huntleigh Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners in the first quarter valued at about $14,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.11% of the company's stock.

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.

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