Short Interest in Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) Declines By 51.4%

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, a drop of 51.4% from the March 31st total of 2,800,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 462,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Alliance Resource Partners Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:ARLP traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.16. 290,425 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 365,018. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.62. Alliance Resource Partners has a one year low of $21.84 and a one year high of $30.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

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

Alliance Resource Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.31%. Alliance Resource Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 132.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARLP shares. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Alliance Resource Partners in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Alliance Resource Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 26th.

Insider Activity

In other Alliance Resource Partners news, SVP Timothy J. Whelan sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 16.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alliance Resource Partners

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARLP. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 34,283 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 17,647 shares of the energy company's stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,816 shares of the energy company's stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. BCS Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. BCS Wealth Management now owns 19,971 shares of the energy company's stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliance Resource Partners by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 7,278 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. 18.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alliance Resource Partners

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.