Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 5,012 Shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 55.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,051 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,012 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RRC. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Range Resources by 3.1% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,790 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Range Resources by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,435 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Range Resources by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in Range Resources by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 31,410 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Range Resources by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 70,258 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,528,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. 98.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Range Resources Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of RRC opened at $34.14 on Friday. Range Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $27.29 and a twelve month high of $41.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.64. The company has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.73.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.13. The business 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 firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Range Resources’s payout ratio is presently 32.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RRC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Range Resources from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Range Resources and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.43.

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.