First Trust Advisors LP Raises Position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 801,881 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,819 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.33% of Range Resources worth $28,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of RRC. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Range Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $33,684,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 233.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,180,913 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $44,308,000 after purchasing an additional 826,530 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Range Resources by 61.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,579,579 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $48,588,000 after buying an additional 604,199 shares during the period. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC acquired a new position in Range Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,659,000. Finally, Telemark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Range Resources during the 4th quarter worth $14,392,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% of the company's stock.

Range Resources Stock Performance

Range Resources stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $34.26. The stock had a trading volume of 420,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,447,963. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.73. Range Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $27.29 and a 12 month high of $41.95. 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $36.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.79.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from Range Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Range Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on RRC shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Range Resources from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Range Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank cut shares of Range Resources from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Range Resources from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm upgraded Range Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $41.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Range Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.50.

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.