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Best Coal Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top coal stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% 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:

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) is the #1 top coal stock out of 6 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) has a Due Diligence Score of 42, which is 11 points higher than the coal industry average of 31.

ARLP passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Alliance Resource Partners has seen its stock lose -3.95% over the past year, underperforming other coal stocks by -12 percentage points.

Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) is the #2 top coal stock out of 6 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

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

Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 13 points higher than the coal industry average of 31.

NRP passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Natural Resource Partners has seen its stock return 0.76% over the past year, underperforming other coal stocks by -7 percentage points.

Core Natural Resources (NYSE:CNR) 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 +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Core Natural Resources (NYSE:CNR) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Core Natural Resources (NYSE:CNR) has a Due Diligence Score of 17, which is -14 points lower than the coal industry average of 31.

CNR passed 7 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Core Natural Resources has seen its stock return 19.24% over the past year, overperforming other coal stocks by 11 percentage points.

Core Natural Resources has an average 1 year price target of $104.50, an upside of 16.14% from Core Natural Resources's current stock price of $89.98.

Core Natural Resources stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Core Natural Resources, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

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 7.11%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the coal industry average of 2.84%. 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 126.3% 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 2.97%, which is the same as the coal industry average of 2.84%. 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 shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Natural Resource Partners's dividend payout ratio of 39.3% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Nacco Industries (NYSE:NC) has an annual dividend yield of 2.38%, which is the same as the coal industry average of 2.84%. Nacco Industries's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Nacco Industries's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Nacco Industries's dividend payout ratio of 44.2% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Coal stocks were up 0.88% in the last day, and up 4.26% over the last week. Core Natural Resources was the among the top gainers in the thermal coal industry, gaining 7.53% yesterday.

Core Natural Resources shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 sales results.

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:

Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) 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.

Natural Resource Partners has a valuation score of 57, which is 26 points higher than the coal industry average of 31. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Natural Resource Partners's stock has gained 0.76% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the coal industry by -7 percentage points.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) is the second 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.

Alliance Resource Partners has a valuation score of 43, which is 12 points higher than the coal industry average of 31. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Alliance Resource Partners's stock has dropped -3.95% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the coal industry by -12 percentage points.

Core Natural Resources (NYSE:CNR) 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.

Core Natural Resources has a valuation score of 14, which is -17 points higher than the coal industry average of 31. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Core Natural Resources's stock has gained 19.24% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the coal industry by 11 percentage points.

66.67% of coal stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect coal stocks to rise by 27.25% over the next year.

0% of coal stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 0% of coal stocks are rated B (Buy), 83.33% are rated C (Hold), 16.67% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).