By Tatum Peregrin

January 4, 2018 - Alliance Holdings GP (NASDAQ: AHGP) and Alpha Appalachia (NYSE:MEE) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Alliance Holdings GP and Alpha Appalachia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Alliance Holdings GP and Alpha Appalachia’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Alliance Holdings GP has higher revenue and earnings than Alpha Appalachia. Alpha Appalachia is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alliance Holdings GP, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

20.9% of Alliance Holdings GP shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Alliance Holdings GP pays an annual dividend of $2.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.5%. Alpha Appalachia does not pay a dividend. Alliance Holdings GP pays out 88.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Alliance Holdings GP and Alpha Appalachia, as reported by MarketBeat.

Alliance Holdings GP currently has a consensus target price of $31.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.99%.

Summary

Alliance Holdings GP beats Alpha Appalachia on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alliance Holdings GP

Alliance Holdings GP, L.P. (AHGP) is a limited partnership company. The Company owns directly and indirectly the members’ interest in Alliance Resource Management GP, LLC (MGP), the managing general partner of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (ARLP). The Company’s segments include Illinois Basin, Appalachia, and Other and Corporate. The Illinois Basin segment consists of mining complexes, including Webster County Coal’s Dotiki mining complex; Gibson County Coal’s mining complex, which includes the Gibson North mine and Gibson South mine; Warrior’s mining complex; River View’s mining complex and the Hamilton mining complex. The Appalachia segment consists of various operating segments, including the Mettiki mining complex, the Tunnel Ridge mining complex and the MC Mining mining complex. The Mettiki mining complex includes Mettiki Coal (WV)’s Mountain View mine and Mettiki Coal’s preparation plant. Other and Corporate segment includes marketing and administrative activities.

About Alpha Appalachia

Massey Energy Company (Massey) is a coal producer in the United States. The Company produces, processes and sells bituminous coal of various steam and metallurgical grades, primarily of a low sulfur content, through its 25 processing and shipping centers (Resource Groups), many of which receive coal from multiple mines. At January 31, 2011, the Company operated 84 mines, including 66 underground mines (one of which employs both room and pillar and longwall mining) and 18 surface mines (with 12 highwall miners in operation) in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. On April 19, 2010, the Company completed the acquisition of Cumberland Resources Corporation and certain affiliated entities (Cumberland). The Cumberland operations include primarily underground coal mines in Southwestern Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. The Company owns a majority interest in Coalsolv, LLC (Coalsolv).