Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) Short Interest Update

Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,830,000 shares, an increase of 26.2% from the October 15th total of 11,750,000 shares. Currently, 6.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days.

Range Resources Trading Down 0.6 %

Range Resources stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,612,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,351,703. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.87 and a 200 day moving average of $32.65. Range Resources has a 52-week low of $27.29 and a 52-week high of $39.33. The firm has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 1.80.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.16. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The company had revenue of $615.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $617.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Range Resources will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid 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 0.96%. Range Resources's payout ratio is currently 16.16%.

Insider Transactions at Range Resources

In other news, Director Charles G. Griffie acquired 1,275 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.46 per share, for a total transaction of $40,111.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,921 shares in the company, valued at $186,274.66. This represents a 27.44 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 12,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total transaction of $399,415.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,670 shares in the company, valued at $304,121.50. This trade represents a 56.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Range Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Range Resources by 25.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,633,567 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $985,855,000 after buying an additional 5,759,883 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Range Resources by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,490,639 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $843,213,000 after acquiring an additional 959,011 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Range Resources by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,531,086 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $224,912,000 after purchasing an additional 133,565 shares during the period. Lingotto Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in Range Resources by 1.5% in the second quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 6,451,726 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $216,326,000 after purchasing an additional 93,782 shares during the period. Finally, KGH Ltd increased its position in shares of Range Resources by 3.2% in the second quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 6,080,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $203,862,000 after buying an additional 190,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on RRC. Piper Sandler cut shares of Range Resources from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $31.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $37.00 to $31.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Range Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Range Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.00.

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.