Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 22,150 Shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,171 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 22,150 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $6,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 113,800 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $4,095,000 after acquiring an additional 21,440 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Range Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $380,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Range Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $567,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,944 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 11,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 663,320 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $23,866,000 after acquiring an additional 10,401 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Range Resources Price Performance

Shares of RRC opened at $40.11 on Friday. Range Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $27.29 and a twelve month high of $41.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $626.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $676.53 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Range Resources news, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 12,880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total transaction of $502,320.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,197. This trade represents a 88.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James M. Funk sold 13,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $1,905,421.82. The trade was a 19.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,880 shares of company stock worth $2,815,807 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RRC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna decreased 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 note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Range Resources from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.85.

About Range Resources

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.