It's been a bit of a rough Tuesday for the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) and most ASX All Ords shares so far today. At the time of writing, the All Ords Index has dropped by 0.25% and is hovering just above 8,000 points. But let's talk about one stock that's going the other way and just hit a new 52-week high.
That ASX All Ords stock is none other than coal share Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC).
Whitehaven stock closed at $8.25 a share yesterday and opened at that same price this morning. But since then, it has only been up for this ASX All Ords stock. At present, Whitehaven shares are trading at $8.40 each, up a healthy 1.76% for the day thus far.
It was even better for Whitehaven shares earlier this morning. Just after market open, this All Ords stock climbed all the way up to $8.45 a share – a new 52-week high for Whitehaven.
Today's gain continues a long streak of wins for Whitehaven shares. As it now stands, this ASX All Ords stock is now up 8.2% year to date in 2024 so far, as well as up a whopping 40.9% over the past 12 months.
Check that out for yourself below:
Why is this ASX All Ords stock at a new 52-week high today?
Today's new highs for Whiehaven are not easily explained. There haven't been any fresh developments, news or announcements out of Whitehaven itself for quite a while.
However, that doesn't mean a lot of things haven't been going right for the company.
Back in April, Whitehaven completed the acquisition of two metallurgical coal mines for US$3.2 billion, instantly transforming the company into a significant metallurgical coal producer.
As my Fool colleague Bronwyn covered at the time, this resulted in a number of ASX experts casting a positive light on the ASX All Ords stock. ASX broker UBS gave Whitehaven a buy rating, as well as a 12-month share price target of $8.70, as a result.
Michael Gable of Fairmont Equities piled on, stating that Whitehaven stock "looks cheap" following the mine acquisitions.
There was some good news for Whitehaven shares last month too. On 16 May, the All Ords stock revealed that the Federal court had dismissed an attempted challenge of its Narrabri Stage 3 Extension Project. This project is expected to extend the Narrabri coal mine's life from 2031 to 2044.
So it appears that these positive developments for Whitehaven are resulting in investors taking a second look at the stock and liking what they see. Let's see if Whitehaven can hit any more highs going forward.
At the current Whitehaven share price, this ASX All Ords coal stock has a market capitalisation of $7.03 billion, with a dividend yield of 5.84%.
