Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Stephens raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $37.00. The stock had previously closed at $29.90, but opened at $31.39. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Range Resources shares last traded at $30.79, with a volume of 1,350,007 shares changing hands.

RRC has been the subject of several other reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Range Resources in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Scotiabank raised Range Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Range Resources from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Range Resources from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $35.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 12,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $399,415.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $304,121.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Range Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RRC. Fifth Third Bancorp increased 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 during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Range Resources by 5.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Range Resources by 1.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Range Resources by 20.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,529 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Range Resources Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.09. The firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.05. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $641.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $610.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Range Resources Co. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Range Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.24%.

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.