Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Trading 2.8% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) rose 2.8% during trading on Monday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $55.00. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Range Resources traded as high as $39.98 and last traded at $40.29. Approximately 117,730 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 2,343,306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.19.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Range Resources from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Range Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Williams Trading set a $40.00 target price on Range Resources in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho raised their price target on Range Resources from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.60.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Range Resources

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Range Resources by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,579,579 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $48,588,000 after buying an additional 604,199 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Range Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $380,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Range Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $567,000. Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Range Resources by 156.2% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Range Resources by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,944 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 11,276 shares in the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Range Resources Stock Down 12.0 %

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 fifty day simple moving average is $38.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.73.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.13. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The firm had revenue of $626.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $676.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This is a boost from Range Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Range Resources's payout ratio is presently 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.