Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) Position Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 30.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund 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. owned 0.23% of Range Resources worth $17,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RRC. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Range Resources by 21.2% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,709 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake 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 worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC raised its position in Range Resources by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,661,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its position in shares of Range Resources by 6.0% during the second quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 10,650 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Range Resources from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised Range Resources to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Range Resources

In other news, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 12,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 9,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $304,121.50. The trade was a 56.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles G. Griffie purchased 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $31.46 per share, with a total value of $40,111.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,274.66. The trade was a 27.44 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Range Resources Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Range Resources stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.76. 496,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,346,675. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.65. Range Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $27.29 and a twelve month high of $39.33.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $615.03 million during 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%. Range Resources's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Range Resources Co. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Range Resources's payout ratio is 16.16%.

Range Resources 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.