Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Rating Lowered to Sector Perform at Scotiabank

Scotiabank cut shares of Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $45.00 price objective on the oil and gas exploration company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $40.00.

RRC has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Range Resources from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Range Resources from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays began coverage on Range Resources in a research report on Wednesday. They set an underweight rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Benchmark lowered Range Resources from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Range Resources in a report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $35.25.

Range Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RRC traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $36.03. 1,920,063 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,584,570. The company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49. Range Resources has a 1 year low of $23.92 and a 1 year high of $37.88.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $941.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $672.25 million. Range Resources had a net margin of 25.82% and a return on equity of 15.87%. The company's revenue was down 42.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Range Resources will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Range Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Range Resources

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Orser Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Range Resources by 0.8% during the first quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC now owns 54,223 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,867,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its holdings in Range Resources by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 10,403 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Range Resources by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,339 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC grew its position in Range Resources by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 154,245 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $4,695,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Range Resources by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 29,187 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% 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.