Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in Range Resources Corporation $RRC

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in Range Resources by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 48,157 shares and ending with 382,746 shares valued at about $13.5 million.
• Range Resources reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.52 versus estimates of $1.25 and revenue of $1.07 billion versus expectations of $898.2 million. Revenue jumped 49.8% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, or $0.40 annually, implying a 1.0% yield; the ex-dividend date is June 12 and payment date is June 26.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in shares of Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 382,746 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 48,157 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.16% of Range Resources worth $13,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Range Resources by 59.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,817,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $445,196,000 after acquiring an additional 4,398,042 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Range Resources by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,440,277 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $91,852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,045,165 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Range Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $66,560,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Range Resources by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,588,540 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $126,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Range Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $37,820,000. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Range Resources

In related news, Director Brenda A. Cline sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $310,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,272,859.20. This represents a 19.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Range Resources Stock Down 0.4%

RRC opened at $39.62 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $42.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55. Range Resources Corporation has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $48.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.42.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $898.20 million. Range Resources had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 26.09%.The business's revenue was up 49.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Range Resources Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Range Resources's payout ratio is presently 10.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RRC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Range Resources from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Stephens cut their target price on Range Resources from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Range Resources from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Range Resources from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Range Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.00.

About Range Resources

Range Resources Corporation, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids. The company focuses its core operations on the Appalachian Basin, with a significant presence in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale. Through its drilling and completion activities, Range Resources seeks to optimize production efficiency while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation and cost management.

The company's technical expertise centers on advanced horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques, which it applies to unlock unconventional resources.

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