By Charles Blunt

August 20, 2019 - Arch Coal Inc (NYSE:ARCH) Director Holly K. Koeppel bought 2,200 shares of Arch Coal stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $89.02 per share, for a total transaction of $195,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,844. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

NYSE:ARCH opened at $76.82 on Friday. Arch Coal Inc has a one year low of $73.84 and a one year high of $101.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $85.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.52.

Arch Coal last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The energy company reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.30. Arch Coal had a return on equity of 48.65% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business had revenue of $570.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $558.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. Arch Coal’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arch Coal Inc will post 16.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. Arch Coal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.88%.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. TheStreet cut Arch Coal from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Arch Coal to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Zacks Investment Research cut Arch Coal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. ValuEngine cut Arch Coal from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Arch Coal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.17.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCH. Luminus Management LLC grew its stake in Arch Coal by 1,221.7% during the 2nd quarter. Luminus Management LLC now owns 660,439 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $62,220,000 after acquiring an additional 610,471 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arch Coal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $317,000. United Services Automobile Association boosted its holdings in Arch Coal by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 4,683 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arch Coal by 434.1% in the 2nd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 25,085 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 20,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Arch Coal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,482,000.

Arch Coal, Inc produces and sells thermal and metallurgical coal from surface and underground mines. As of December 31, 2018, the company operated nine active mines. It also owned or controlled primarily through long-term leases approximately 28,292 acres of coal land in Ohio; 1,060 acres of coal land in Maryland; 10,195 acres of coal land in Virginia; 359,122 acres of coal land in West Virginia; 81,868 acres of coal land in Wyoming; 268,802 acres of coal land in Illinois; 33,527 acres of coal land in Kentucky; 9,840 acres of coal land in Montana; 21,802 acres of coal land in New Mexico; 358 acres of coal land in Pennsylvania; and 19,146 acres of coal land in Colorado, as well as owned or controlled through long-term leases smaller parcels of property in Alabama, Indiana, Washington, Arkansas, California, Utah, and Texas.