South Dakota Investment Council Sells 56,168 Shares of Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC)

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its holdings in shares of Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 95.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,524 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 56,168 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Range Resources were worth $101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Range Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 48.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 971 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Range Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Range Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,078 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% of the company's stock.

Range Resources Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of RRC traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $35.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 318,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,936,510. The firm has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.63. Range Resources Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.29 and a 1-year high of $43.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.04.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $856.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $708.38 million. Range Resources had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 17.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Range Resources Corporation will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Range Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RRC. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Range Resources from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Range Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Range Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Range Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $43.11.

Insider Transactions at Range Resources

In other Range Resources news, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 12,880 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total value of $502,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,723 shares in the company, valued at $67,197. The trade was a 88.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dennis Degner sold 35,850 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.42, for a total transaction of $1,449,057.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 58,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,361,781.02. This trade represents a 38.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 76,080 shares of company stock valued at $2,984,479. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Range Resources Company Profile

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.