10 Best Coal Stocks to Invest In According to Hedge Funds

In this piece, we discuss the 10 Best Coal Stocks to Invest In According to Hedge Funds.

Coal has found itself at the center of U.S. energy policy in a way it has not been in decades.

On June 4, 2026, Reuters reported that President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law granting presidents broad authority over industries deemed critical to national security. With that invocation, Trump will direct $425 million in upgrades to 13 coal-fired power plants and $75 million toward the proposed West Gateway coal export terminal in Oakland, California.

The Energy Department also said it was finalizing up to $350 million in previously announced funding for four additional coal facility projects, including new power plants in Alaska and West Virginia. The administration framed the move in national security terms, citing the need to ensure electricity for AI data centers and reduce reliance on foreign energy sources.

The announcement followed reports on June 3, 2026, that Trump was planning to deploy nearly $700 million using Cold War-era defense powers, including more than half directed at 13 coal plant upgrades, $185 million to match corporate funds for facilities in Alaska, Maryland, and West Virginia, and $75 million for the West Gateway terminal.

The policy push comes against a challenging structural backdrop.

Coal’s share of U.S. electricity generation has fallen from nearly 60% in 2000 to about 16% in 2025, according to Reuters reporting from June 5, 2026, which cited unfavorable economics, construction complexity, logistical burdens, and limited export upside as forces unlikely to reverse regardless of policy support.

With that background in mind, let’s now jump to our list of the best coal stocks to invest in.

Our Methodology

To curate our list for this article, we scanned financial media and stock screeners to identify coal stocks. Next, we assessed hedge fund sentiment toward these stocks using Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, which tracks the holdings of more than 1,000 hedge funds as of Q1 2026. Our final list is ranked in ascending order based on the number of bullish hedge fund positions.

Note: All data sourced on June 5, 2026.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 599.2% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 372 percentage points (see more details here).

10. NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 7

With $14 million invested in the stock by hedge funds as of Q1 2026, NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC) is among the best coal stocks to invest in. The company’s current growth reflects a management team that appears to be strategically expanding beyond its coal mining roots.

Speaking on the May 6, 2026, earnings call, CEO J.C. Butler described a company executing on multiple growth fronts simultaneously.

NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC)’s headline numbers were solid: first quarter operating profit rose 43% year-over-year to $11 million, net income climbed 80% to $8.8 million, or $1.17 per share, and adjusted EBITDA grew 28% to $16.4 million.

However, the more compelling story is where that growth is coming from and where management is pointing next.

Contract Mining has become NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC)’s clearest growth platform, leading the company’s sequential growth during the quarter. NACCO commenced work on a multi-year dragline services contract for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction project in Palm Beach County, Florida, during the first quarter, deploying two MTech electric drive draglines with a third to be added later in 2026. A second new contract, a limestone quarry operation in Arizona, is set to begin in the second half of the year.

Butler said he expects a substantial year-over-year increase in both operating profit and segment adjusted EBITDA in the Contract Mining segment.

Meanwhile, Mitigation Resources, a subsidiary of NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC), is building toward longer-term profitability.

In mid-April, the company’s subsidiary acquired 958 acres in Wilson County, Tennessee, east of Nashville, with wetland and stream mitigation credits anticipated to be available in 2029. Butler framed the acquisition as an expansion into a region experiencing steady economic growth. NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC) also has a contract mining position tied to the Thacker Pass lithium project, with first deliveries expected in late 2027. Butler said the project is progressing on schedule.

NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC) had $53.2 million in cash and $49.5 million in revolver availability at March 31, 2026.

NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC) is a holding company focused on natural resources, primarily operating surface coal mines under long-term contracts for power generation companies. Through its subsidiaries—notably The North American Coal Corporation—it manages coal mining, provides contract mining services for aggregates, lithium, and other minerals, and manages mineral interests.

9. American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 19

Hedge funds held $27 million worth of positions in the stock as of Q1 2026, placing American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) among the best coal stocks to invest in.

However, American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) is building a case for investors as a critical minerals platform in transition, with management outlining an updated strategy during the week ending May 24, 2026.

Speaking with Proactive, CEO Mark Jensen described a company that has fundamentally repositioned itself over the past year.

American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) moved from negative shareholder equity of roughly $80 million to positive equity of approximately $93 million, driven by the divestiture of legacy coal assets and the spinout of ReElement Technologies. The removal of a going concern qualification adds to that momentum, and Jensen said the company now holds more than $72.5 million in cash with no immediate need for additional fundraising.

ReElement, a wholly owned subsidiary, remains central to the company’s story.

American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) retains around 17% of the spinout while maintaining a feedstock supply relationship with it. Jensen said the refining platform is already capable of producing key rare earth elements at competitive costs, describing it as a meaningful asset within the domestic critical minerals sector.

The company’s forward strategy moves away from building its own domestic mines.

Jensen argued that many U.S. mining projects struggle to compete economically against lower-cost international alternatives. Instead, American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) is pursuing ownership stakes in mining operations across Southeast Asia and Africa, with a focus on elements including germanium, gallium, yttrium, and gadolinium, which Jensen said remain difficult to source outside China. He said discussions on multiple mining partnerships and supply agreements are already well advanced.

Jensen described the broader strategy as taking stakes in international mines that can supply ReElement, while spreading risk across multiple jurisdictions.

Indiana-based American Resources Corp (NASDAQ:AREC) is engaged in producing and supplying raw materials for the infrastructure market. Its material supplies include steel, alloys, and critical minerals. Through its Electrified Materials Corporation and ReElement Technologies Corporation units, the company recovers, processes, and refines rare-earth elements and other minerals. The company also offers coal byproducts.

8. Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:METC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 26

With $178 million invested in the stock by hedge funds as of Q1 2026, Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:METC) is among the best coal stocks to invest in.

Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:METC) chairman and CEO Randall Atkins took to CNBC in late May to lay out a company operating on two fronts. Meanwhile, a rare earth supply deal announced the same week aligned with that strategy.

On May 28, 2026, Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:METC) signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with REalloys Inc. (NASDAQ: ALOY), an Ohio-based rare earth company.

Under the MOU, Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:METC) would supply REalloys with Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC) from its exploratory Brook Mine project in Sheridan, Wyoming. REalloys would then perform separation of that feedstock into various rare earth oxides at its Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) facility in Canada. The agreement also includes Ramaco supplying its own separated scandium oxide from the Brook Mine’s critical mineral refinery for alloy metallization at REalloys’ Euclid, Ohio, facility. Chairman and CEO Randall Atkins said the partnership is intended to support a domestic, ex-China permanent magnet supply chain.

That announcement came alongside a May 29, 2026, appearance by Atkins on CNBC’s Morning Call, where he discussed the Brook Mine’s role in domestic critical minerals supply chains and Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:METC)’s core metallurgical coal business.

Atkins noted Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:METC) raised nearly $1 billion over the past year to fund the Brook Mine project and advance its broader critical minerals strategy. He also addressed rising international coal prices tied to geopolitical instability from the conflict in Iran, noting that roughly two-thirds of the company’s metallurgical coal production is exported to global markets.

Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:METC) is a developer of high-quality, metallurgical (coking) coal used for steelmaking, with major mining complexes in West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky. The company also operates the Brook Mine in Wyoming, which is being developed as a significant domestic source of rare earth elements (REEs) and critical minerals.

7. SunCoke Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SXC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 29

Hedge funds held $98 million worth of positions in the stock as of Q1 2026, placing SunCoke Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SXC) among the best coal stocks to invest in.

SunCoke Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SXC) is entering the second half of 2026 with a cleaner operational setup than its first-quarter results suggested, a point management emphasized during its April 30, 2026, earnings call.

CEO Katherine Gates described a company running at full capacity and sold out for the full year, with its Haverhill I and Granite City cokemaking contracts extended and all spot blast and foundry coke sales finalized.

The core coke business, anchored by what Gates called the three pillars of Indiana Harbor, Middletown, and Jewel Foundry, is set up for a meaningful back-half recovery after Q1 was weighed down by severe winter weather and a turbine failure at the Middletown facility. Management said power production at Middletown is expected to resume late in Q2, removing a headwind that CFO Shantanu Agrawal estimated at roughly $10 million below the quarterly run rate. Q3 and Q4 are where the recovery is expected to show up most clearly.

The Industrial Services segment is another factor expected to drive the company’s second-half recovery.

The Phoenix acquisition, now in its second full quarter under SunCoke Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SXC)’s ownership, is being integrated steadily, with additional cost synergies expected to materialize as software systems are merged and integration drag costs subside. Terminal handling volumes improved meaningfully quarter-over-quarter to 5.6 million tons, and Gates noted that higher international coal demand tied to the Middle East conflict is contributing to a stronger market environment at the terminals, a trend she said showed no signs of weakening.

Additionally, SunCoke Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SXC) reaffirmed its full-year consolidated adjusted EBITDA guidance of $230 million to $250 million, supported by $72.7 million in operating cash flow generated in Q1 and liquidity of $262 million at quarter’s end. The company targets gross leverage below 3x by year-end, with free cash flow directed toward debt paydown and the quarterly dividend, now in its 27th consecutive quarter.

SunCoke Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SXC) supplies coke to customers in domestic and international markets. The company operates through three main segments: Domestic Coke, Brazil Coke, and Logistics.

6. Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 30

With $491 million invested in the stock by hedge funds as of Q1 2026, Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR) is among the best coal stocks to invest in.

Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR) is navigating a met coal market that management described, on its May 8, 2026, earnings call, as more oversupplied than it has been in years. At the same time, the company is quietly positioning its portfolio toward higher-quality coals that are better placed to weather that pressure.

The core issue management laid out is a widening price gap between premium low-vol and high-vol coals.

Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR)’s CEO Andy Eidson noted that the spread between the U.S. East Coast Low Vol Index and High Vol A has climbed from roughly $5 per ton at the start of 2025 to $38 per ton, a move he attributed directly to new high-vol tonnage from Northern Appalachia and Alabama hitting an already weak market. Sales executive Dan Horn added that roughly 11 million tons of new longwall high-vol production has entered the marketplace while Central Appalachian supply curtailments have amounted to only around 1 to 2 million tons, leaving a meaningful imbalance.

Against that backdrop, Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR)’s longer-term answer is a deliberate shift toward higher-rank coals. The company’s Wildcat low-vol mine, currently in development, is expected to move past its development phase in Q2 and ramp production in Q3 and Q4, adding more low-vol and medium-vol tons to a portfolio that management said was always intended to carry more high-quality, high coke-strength coals.

On costs, diesel inflation tied to the Iran conflict added pressure in Q1, where the cost of coal sales rose to $107.98 per ton. Management said it still aims to finish within its $95 to $101 per ton full-year guidance range, though an upward revision remains possible if conditions persist. Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR) held $476.2 million in total liquidity at March 31, 2026.

Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR) is a Tennessee-based mining company specializing in the extraction, processing, and sale of metallurgical coal for global customers. Operating in Virginia and West Virginia, it is a leading U.S. producer with numerous underground and surface mines.

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