Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.84.

RRC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Range Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank cut shares of Range Resources from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, January 17th. Williams Trading set a $40.00 price target on shares of Range Resources in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Range Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th.

Institutional Trading of Range Resources

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Range Resources by 61.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,579,579 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $48,588,000 after buying an additional 604,199 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Range Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $380,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Range Resources during the third quarter worth about $11,508,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Range Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $567,000. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Range Resources by 156.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 26,213 shares during the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Range Resources Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:RRC opened at $38.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.80. Range Resources has a 1 year low of $27.29 and a 1 year high of $41.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.45. 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 data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $626.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $676.53 million. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Range Resources will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.