Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Purchases 314,823 Shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 1,492.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 335,914 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after purchasing an additional 314,823 shares during the period. Range Resources comprises 1.0% of Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Range Resources worth $12,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake 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. bought a new stake in shares of Range Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $380,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Range Resources during the third quarter worth approximately $11,508,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Range Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $567,000. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Range Resources by 156.2% during the fourth quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 42,993 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 26,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Range Resources from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on Range Resources from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research raised Range Resources from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised Range Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Range Resources from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.95.

Range Resources Price Performance

Range Resources stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.62. 2,278,027 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,295,278. Range Resources Co. has a 1-year low of $27.29 and a 1-year high of $41.95. The company has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.80. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $38.35 and a 200 day moving average of $34.51.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.13. Range Resources had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 17.63%. The company had revenue of $626.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $676.53 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Range Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Range Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.