Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Range Resources from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Range Resources from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays set a $43.00 target price on shares of Range Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.06.

Range Resources Price Performance

RRC opened at $35.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.10. The firm has a market cap of $8.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.77. Range Resources has a 1 year low of $27.29 and a 1 year high of $41.95.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,579,579 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $48,588,000 after buying an additional 604,199 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Range Resources during the third quarter valued at $11,508,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new position in Range Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $567,000. Radnor Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Range Resources by 156.2% in the fourth quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 42,993 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 26,213 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Range Resources by 4.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,017,704 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $62,065,000 after purchasing an additional 92,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Range Resources Company Profile

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.