Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Trading Up 2.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)’s share price was up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Monday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $55.00. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Range Resources traded as high as $39.98 and last traded at $40.29. Approximately 117,730 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 2,343,306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.19.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on RRC. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Range Resources from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Range Resources from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Range Resources from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Range Resources by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,057,280 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $181,961,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,304 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Range Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,684,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Range Resources by 233.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,180,913 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $44,308,000 after acquiring an additional 826,530 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,330,676 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $263,768,000 after purchasing an additional 624,955 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Range Resources by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,238,863 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $80,554,000 after purchasing an additional 605,315 shares in the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Range Resources Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.29. The company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.80.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.13. Range Resources had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 17.63%. The firm had revenue of $626.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $676.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.73%.

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.