Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) Shares Purchased by Two Sigma Investments LP

Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 330.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 572,918 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after acquiring an additional 439,843 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned approximately 0.24% of Range Resources worth $20,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RRC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Range Resources by 87.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Range Resources by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,148 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Range Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Range Resources in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Range Resources by 72.0% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% of the company's stock.

Range Resources Price Performance

RRC opened at $39.30 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $36.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.56. Range Resources Co. has a 12-month low of $27.29 and a 12-month high of $41.95. The firm has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $626.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $676.53 million. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is an increase from Range Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Range Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RRC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $41.00 target price on shares of Range Resources in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup cut shares of Range Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Range Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dennis Degner sold 35,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.42, for a total transaction of $1,449,057.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,361,781.02. This represents a 38.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Erin W. Mcdowell sold 9,568 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.62, for a total value of $388,652.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $560,556. The trade was a 40.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,880 shares of company stock worth $2,815,807 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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