Short Interest in Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) Grows By 44.2%

Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,980,000 shares, an increase of 44.2% from the June 15th total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 726,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days. Approximately 7.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Warrior Met Coal in a report on Monday, July 1st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Warrior Met Coal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Warrior Met Coal from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Warrior Met Coal from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.80.

Warrior Met Coal Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE HCC traded up $2.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $72.94. The company had a trading volume of 795,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 786,950. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.26. Warrior Met Coal has a 52-week low of $37.65 and a 52-week high of $75.53. The company has a current ratio of 6.86, a quick ratio of 5.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.05.

Warrior Met Coal (NYSE:HCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.61. Warrior Met Coal had a return on equity of 24.71% and a net margin of 25.94%. The company had revenue of $503.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Warrior Met Coal will post 6.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Warrior Met Coal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Warrior Met Coal’s payout ratio is currently 3.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warrior Met Coal

In other news, CEO Walter J. Scheller sold 23,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.15, for a total transaction of $1,739,572.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 340,485 shares in the company, valued at $25,587,447.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Warrior Met Coal news, insider Kelli K. Gant sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.06, for a total transaction of $750,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,629,550.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Walter J. Scheller sold 23,148 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.15, for a total transaction of $1,739,572.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 340,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,587,447.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warrior Met Coal

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HCC. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Warrior Met Coal by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warrior Met Coal by 0.3% during the second quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 263,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,546,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Warrior Met Coal by 1,567.7% during the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 3,684 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Warrior Met Coal by 38.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in Warrior Met Coal by 95.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 6,138 shares during the last quarter. 92.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warrior Met Coal Company Profile

Warrior Met Coal, Inc produces and exports non-thermal metallurgical coal for the steel industry. It operates two underground mines located in Alabama. The company sells its metallurgical coal to a customer base of blast furnace steel producers located primarily in Europe, South America, and Asia. It also sells natural gas, which is extracted as a byproduct from coal production.