Comerica Bank Raises Position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Comerica Bank raised its position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 107,535 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,125 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Range Resources were worth $3,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RRC. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Range Resources by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 113,800 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $4,095,000 after buying an additional 21,440 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Range Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $380,000. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Range Resources during the 4th quarter worth $567,000. Radnor Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 26,213 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Range Resources by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,944 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 11,276 shares in the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Range Resources

In related news, Director James M. Funk sold 13,582 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.03, for a total transaction of $475,777.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,394 shares in the company, valued at $1,905,421.82. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank downgraded Range Resources from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Range Resources from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Range Resources has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Range Resources Price Performance

Shares of Range Resources stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,921,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,459,580. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.07. The company has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.60. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $27.29 and a 12-month high of $41.95.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $626.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $676.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Range Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Range Resources's payout ratio is currently 32.14%.

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.