Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $17.23 Million Holdings in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 30.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 560,093 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 247,455 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $17,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Range Resources by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,709 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Range Resources by 5.4% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,801 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Inscription Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Range Resources by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC now owns 53,993 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,661,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. increased its stake in shares of Range Resources by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 10,650 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Range Resources

In other news, Director Charles G. Griffie acquired 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.46 per share, for a total transaction of $40,111.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,274.66. This trade represents a 27.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 12,700 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $399,415.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,121.50. This trade represents a 56.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RRC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Range Resources from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Range Resources from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Range Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Range Resources to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Range Resources Stock Down 0.8 %

Range Resources stock opened at $33.63 on Friday. Range Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.29 and a fifty-two week high of $39.33. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.65. The stock has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 1.80.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $615.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $617.90 million. Range Resources had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 17.63%. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Research analysts predict that Range Resources Co. will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.16%.

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.