Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 247,455 Shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 30.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Range Resources by 3.1% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,790 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Range Resources by 5.7% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 6,848 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Range Resources by 3.6% during the third quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orser Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Range Resources by 1.0% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RRC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Range Resources from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays upgraded Range Resources from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Range Resources from $37.00 to $31.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Range Resources from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $28.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Range Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.00.

Insider Transactions at Range Resources

In related news, Director Charles G. Griffie bought 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.46 per share, with a total value of $40,111.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,921 shares in the company, valued at $186,274.66. The trade was a 27.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Range Resources Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of RRC traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $34.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,072,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,319,949. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $33.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.22. Range Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.29 and a fifty-two week high of $39.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.16. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Range Resources Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 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.