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Best Coal Stocks to Buy Now (2025)

Top coal stocks in 2025 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best coal stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best coal mining stocks to buy right now are:

Hallador Energy Co (NASDAQ:HNRG) is the #1 top coal stock out of 6 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Hallador Energy Co (NASDAQ:HNRG) is: Value: D, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Hallador Energy Co (NASDAQ:HNRG) has a Due Diligence Score of 8, which is -29 points lower than the coal industry average of 37. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates HNRG as a "B".

HNRG passed 3 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Hallador Energy Co has seen its stock return 115.15% over the past year, overperforming other coal stocks by 119 percentage points.

Hallador Energy Co has an average 1 year price target of $19.00, an upside of 23.86% from Hallador Energy Co's current stock price of $15.34.

Hallador Energy Co stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Hallador Energy Co, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Nacco Industries (NYSE:NC) is the #2 top coal stock out of 6 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Nacco Industries (NYSE:NC) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Nacco Industries (NYSE:NC) has a Due Diligence Score of 37, which is equal to the coal industry average of 37.

NC passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Nacco Industries has seen its stock return 45.03% over the past year, overperforming other coal stocks by 49 percentage points.

Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) is the #3 top coal stock out of 6 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) is: Value: C, Growth: D, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 7 points higher than the coal industry average of 37.

NRP passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Natural Resource Partners has seen its stock return 4.56% over the past year, overperforming other coal stocks by 8 percentage points.

Out of 5 coal stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 coal stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) has an annual dividend yield of 8.22%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the coal industry average of 3.66%. Alliance Resource Partners's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Alliance Resource Partners's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Alliance Resource Partners's dividend payout ratio of 131.5% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) has an annual dividend yield of 4.46%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the coal industry average of 3.66%. Natural Resource Partners's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% five times in the last 10 years. Natural Resource Partners's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Natural Resource Partners's dividend payout ratio of 39.7% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) has an annual dividend yield of 2.41%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the coal industry average of 3.66%. Peabody Energy's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Peabody Energy's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio of 10.4% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Coal stocks were up 1.17% in the last day, and up 0.35% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why coal stocks are up.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued coal stocks right now are:

Nacco Industries (NYSE:NC) is the most undervalued coal stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Nacco Industries has a valuation score of 43, which is 3 points higher than the coal industry average of 40. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nacco Industries's stock has gained 45.03% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the coal industry by 49 percentage points.

Core Natural Resources (NYSE:CNR) is the second most undervalued coal stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Core Natural Resources has a valuation score of 57, which is 17 points higher than the coal industry average of 40. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Core Natural Resources's stock has dropped -29.6% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the coal industry by -26 percentage points.

Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) is the third most undervalued coal stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Natural Resource Partners has a valuation score of 57, which is 17 points higher than the coal industry average of 40. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Natural Resource Partners's stock has gained 4.56% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the coal industry by 8 percentage points.

100% of coal stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect coal stocks to rise by 39.98% over the next year.

0% of coal stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 33.33% of coal stocks are rated B (Buy), 66.67% are rated C (Hold), 0% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).