Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Stock Price Up 2.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) were 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 were traded 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 also recently issued reports on RRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Range Resources from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Scotiabank cut Range Resources from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.60.

Institutional Trading of Range Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Range Resources during the fourth quarter worth $33,684,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Range Resources by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,094 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Range Resources by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,046 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 1,293 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Range Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,645,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Range Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,001,000. 98.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Range Resources Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.37. The stock has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

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

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.