Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) Shares Purchased by Pinebridge Investments L.P.

Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 42.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,307 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after buying an additional 24,417 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Range Resources were worth $2,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RRC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Range Resources by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,148 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Range Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Range Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,544 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on RRC. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Range Resources in a report on Friday, January 17th. Roth Capital upgraded Range Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Roth Mkm raised Range Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Range Resources from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.50.

Range Resources Stock Down 3.4 %

NYSE RRC traded down $1.19 on Wednesday, hitting $33.91. 2,959,528 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,455,294. Range Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.29 and a fifty-two week high of $41.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.73.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.13. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The firm had revenue of $626.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $676.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Range Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Range Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.14%.

Range Resources 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.