Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Boosts Position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 213,481 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after buying an additional 2,293 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned 0.09% of Range Resources worth $7,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Range Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Norden Group LLC increased its position in Range Resources by 29.3% during the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 21,425 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 4,857 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Range Resources by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 67,781 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its position in Range Resources by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 19,540 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Range Resources by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,801 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Range Resources Stock Performance

RRC opened at $28.11 on Wednesday. Range Resources Co. has a 12-month low of $27.29 and a 12-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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.63.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $641.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $610.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Range Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Range Resources Co. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on RRC. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Range Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Range Resources from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.74.

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.