Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Given New $34.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) had its price target increased by Jefferies Financial Group from $32.00 to $34.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on RRC. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Range Resources from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Range Resources from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Benchmark reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Range Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Range Resources from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and raised their price target for the company from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $36.62.

Range Resources Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of RRC stock opened at $35.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Range Resources has a fifty-two week low of $23.92 and a fifty-two week high of $38.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.44.

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

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Range Resources

In other news, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 15,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $603,169.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $844,467.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Range Resources

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its position in Range Resources by 1,858.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,397,521 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $194,722,000 after buying an additional 6,070,900 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,931,670 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $180,568,000 after acquiring an additional 90,028 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Range Resources by 22.4% during the 3rd 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. Kopernik Global Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,106,518 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $94,562,000 after purchasing an additional 82,095 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Range Resources by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,780,804 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $54,208,000 after purchasing an additional 64,810 shares during the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Range Resources Company 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.