Two senior executives at U.S.-based met coal supplier Warrior Met Coal, including its chief executive officer and chief administrative officer, sold 110,000 shares of the company’s NYSE: HCC common stock on January 12.
The sale was executed under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted by the firm in November 2023 and was reported in a Form 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Warrior Met Coal (NYSE: HCC) CEO And CAO Net Over $11 Million From Stock Sales
On Monday, the company’s CEO, Walter J. Scheller, sold 100,000 shares of HCC at a weighted average price of $100.31 per share, with individual sale prices ranging from $100 to $100.91, netting him a total of $10.03 million from the transaction. Following the sale, Scheller now owns 294,183 shares of Warrior Coal.
Meanwhile, Warrior Met Coal CAO and corporate secretary, Kelli K. Grant, sold 10,000 shares on the same day at an average price of $100.00 for $1 million. He now directly holds 70,580 WCC shares.
Warrior Met Coal Inc. is a U.S.-based producer and exporter of non-thermal metallurgical (met) coal, otherwise known as hard-coking coal (HCC), that is used in steel production by manufacturers in North and South America, Asia, and Europe. The company also generates ancillary revenue from natural gas extracted as a byproduct of coal production.
Met Coal Shares Hit Record After Alabama Producer Tops Estimates
These massive stock sales come after the company delivered a rather impressive performance in Q3 2025, with its earnings-per-share (EPS) growing to $0.70, beating Wall Street’s forecast of a $0.30 dip. Warrior Met Coal’s total revenue during the three months between July and September also exceeded expectations, totaling $328.5 million against the predicted $305.4 million.
Additionally, Warrior Met Coal secured federal leases to expand its operations in Alabama to 14,000 acres with an estimated 53.2 million short tons of recoverable coal reserves. The Bureau of Land Management granted these leases through its competitive Lease By Application program.
Its stock hit an all-time high on Tuesday, after climbing to $101.07. HCC is now trading slightly above its 52-week high of $101, but technical indicators suggest that it may be in “overbought territory.” This rally was attributed to a significant increase in the company’s market performance, as the stock is up an impressive 88.85% over the past year. InvestingPro suggested that, though its current P/E ratio of 150.12 indicates HCC may be trading above its Fair Value, it delivered strong momentum with a 87.35% in total annual return.
The peak underscores Warrior Met Coal’s strong market positioning, driven by factors such as robust demand for coal and strategic management decisions by the company, highlighting its financial stability.
These strong financial results have led to credit ratings agency Moody’s revising the company’s outlook from “Stable” to “Positive”, acknowledging the substantial progress made on the development of its underground metallurgical coal mine in Blue Creek, Alabama, which is known for low-sulfur coal, high coke strength after reaction (CSR), and strong coking properties that are comparable to premium HCC coal from Australia.
UBS has raised its price target for Warrior Met Coal from $75 to $80 per share, maintaining a “Neutral” rating. They cited improving cash cost forecasts and strong operational performance as reasons. Their report also noted that the company outperformed industry peers and met coal prices by more than 20% over the past month. These developments reflect its robust financial health and strategic positioning in the market.
U.S. EPA Rejects Colorado’s Plan To Retire Coal Power Plants Under Clean Air Act, Citing Energy Demand And High Costs
Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rejected Colorado’s plan to comply with regional haze regulations by shutting down its coal plants, arguing that the state needs the facilities to remain running to maintain reliable power.
The haze regulations are part of the Clean Air Act and the federal Regional Haze Rule (RHR), which require states to develop and implement plans to reduce air pollution and improve visibility in national parks and wilderness areas. These regulations aim to address visibility issues caused by pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter, which contribute to haze and degrade air quality in protected areas.
The EPA said that Colorado’s plan to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution violates the Clean Air Act because the state did not get consent from one of the coal plants that is targeted for early retirement. The move is part of the latest efforts by the Trump White House to extend the life of aging coal-powered power plants to continue to provide baseload electricity needed to meet the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence data centers.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement,
“Reliable baseload energy sources are essential to Powering the Great American Comeback and ensuring families have cost-effective energy,”
In 2025, the Trump administration issued five emergency orders to keep retiring coal plants running, with the most recent one coming on December 30, when Secretary of Energy Chris Wright directed a coal mine in Craig, Colorado, to continue operating even though it was set to retire at the end of the year.
Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (HCC) closed Tuesday’s trading session at $100.71 – up 0.53% on the day.
