Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 794,974 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 193,951 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.33% of Range Resources worth $28,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners raised its stake in Range Resources by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,976,052 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $287,078,000 after purchasing an additional 371,777 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Range Resources by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,330,676 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $263,768,000 after purchasing an additional 624,955 shares in the last quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP raised its position in shares of Range Resources by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 6,864,038 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $246,968,000 after buying an additional 165,242 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Range Resources by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,057,280 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $181,961,000 after buying an additional 2,104,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP raised its position in shares of Range Resources by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 2,911,509 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $104,595,000 after buying an additional 251,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Range Resources

In other news, Director James M. Funk sold 13,582 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.03, for a total transaction of $475,777.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,905,421.82. This trade represents a 19.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dennis Degner sold 35,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,431 shares in the company, valued at $2,361,781.02. This represents a 38.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,880 shares of company stock valued at $2,815,807. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Range Resources Stock Performance

RRC stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,777,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,481,025. The firm has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. Range Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $27.29 and a 12 month high of $41.95. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $36.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.31.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $626.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $676.53 million. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.69%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. This is a boost from Range Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Range Resources's payout ratio is currently 32.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on RRC shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Range Resources from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $41.00 target price on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Range Resources from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.85.

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.