Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 5,641 Shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 53.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,181 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,641 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Range Resources by 5.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Range Resources by 2.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Range Resources by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 31,410 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Range Resources by 0.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Range Resources by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 66,630 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,397,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna reduced 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. Williams Trading set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Range Resources in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.85.

Range Resources Stock Down 0.4%

RRC stock opened at $40.25 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.31. The company has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Range Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $27.29 and a 12 month high of $41.95.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $626.42 million for 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a positive change from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Range Resources’s payout ratio is 32.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 12,880 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,197. The trade was a 88.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Erin W. Mcdowell sold 9,568 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.62, for a total transaction of $388,652.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $560,556. This trade represents a 40.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,880 shares of company stock valued at $2,815,807 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.