Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Acquires New Stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. bought a new stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 19,045 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RRC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 25.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,633,567 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $985,855,000 after buying an additional 5,759,883 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Range Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $78,223,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Range Resources by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,490,639 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $843,213,000 after acquiring an additional 959,011 shares during the period. Herr Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Range Resources by 4,594.4% in the 1st quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC now owns 497,611 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $17,133,000 after acquiring an additional 487,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Range Resources by 177.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 692,722 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $21,086,000 after purchasing an additional 443,298 shares during the period. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Range Resources Stock Up 3.0 %

RRC stock opened at $31.53 on Tuesday. Range Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $27.29 and a twelve month high of $39.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.49.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.05. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business had revenue of $641.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $610.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Range Resources Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 12,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $399,415.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,121.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on RRC shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Range Resources in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Range Resources from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Range Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.10.

About Range Resources

Range Resources Corporation operates as an independent natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, and condensate company in the United States. The company engages in the exploration, development, and acquisition of natural gas and crude oil properties located in the Appalachian region. It sells natural gas to utilities, marketing and midstream companies, and industrial users; NGLs to petrochemical end users, marketers/traders, and natural gas processors; and oil and condensate to crude oil processors, transporters, and refining and marketing companies.