Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $41.74 and last traded at $41.71, with a volume of 534382 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on RRC. Wolfe Research raised shares of Range Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Range Resources in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised Range Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $35.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Range Resources to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $28.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.16.

Range Resources Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.78.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $615.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $617.90 million. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Range Resources Co. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 16.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 604,199 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Range Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $11,508,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Range Resources by 4.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,017,704 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $62,065,000 after buying an additional 92,217 shares during the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Range Resources by 156.2% during the 4th quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 42,993 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 26,213 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 112,008 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,445,000 after acquiring an additional 64,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

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.