Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,507 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $2,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Range Resources by 22.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,796,629 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $123,049,000 after acquiring an additional 693,970 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Range Resources by 66.6% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,463,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $47,416,000 after acquiring an additional 585,000 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in Range Resources by 86.5% in the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,195,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $38,743,000 after acquiring an additional 554,400 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Range Resources by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 951,501 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $28,964,000 after acquiring an additional 343,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in Range Resources by 61.6% in the third quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 838,600 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $27,179,000 after acquiring an additional 319,800 shares during the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles G. Griffie acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $34.65 per share, with a total value of $51,975.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,983.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charles G. Griffie acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $34.65 per share, with a total value of $51,975.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,983.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 15,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $603,169.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,467.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on RRC. Stephens upped their price objective on Range Resources from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Scotiabank cut Range Resources from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Range Resources from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on Range Resources from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Range Resources from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.62.

Range Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:RRC opened at $37.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99 and a beta of 1.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Range Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $24.61 and a 12 month high of $38.25.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $718.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $680.72 million. Range Resources had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 17.00%. Range Resources’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Range Resources Co. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.24%.

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.