Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on American Resources (NASDAQ:AREC)

American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 16,039 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 124% compared to the average daily volume of 7,148 put options.

Insider Activity at American Resources

In related news, major shareholder Properties Ltd. Golden sold 980,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.06, for a total value of $3,978,800.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,409,960 shares in the company, valued at $46,324,437.60. This represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 2,564,818 shares of company stock valued at $10,405,579 over the last quarter. 16.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in American Resources during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Belvedere Trading LLC purchased a new stake in American Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of American Resources by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 37,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.32% of the company’s stock.

American Resources Stock Up 1.4%

AREC stock opened at $2.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.01 million, a PE ratio of -5.27 and a beta of 1.12. American Resources has a twelve month low of $0.38 and a twelve month high of $7.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $3.41 and its 200-day moving average is $2.26.

American Resources (NASDAQ:AREC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $0.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.01 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Resources will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AREC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. William Blair began coverage on American Resources in a research report on Monday, October 20th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. D. Boral Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of American Resources in a report on Monday, December 1st. D Boral Capital raised shares of American Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of American Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of American Resources in a research note on Monday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.00.

American Resources Company Profile

American Resources Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, extracts, processes, transports, and sells metallurgical coal to the steel and industrial industries. It supplies raw materials; and sells coal used in pulverized coal injections. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Fishers, Indiana.