Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases New Holdings in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,454 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Range Resources by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,976,052 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $287,078,000 after acquiring an additional 371,777 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Range Resources by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,330,676 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $263,768,000 after buying an additional 624,955 shares in the last quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP lifted its position in Range Resources by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 6,864,038 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $246,968,000 after buying an additional 165,242 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Range Resources by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,057,280 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $181,961,000 after buying an additional 2,104,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Range Resources by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,238,863 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $80,554,000 after buying an additional 605,315 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RRC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $41.00 target price on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Range Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Range Resources from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Range Resources from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James M. Funk sold 13,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.03, for a total transaction of $475,777.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,905,421.82. This trade represents a 19.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Reginal Spiller sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.16, for a total transaction of $168,672.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $548,706.08. The trade was a 23.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,080 shares of company stock worth $2,984,479 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Range Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:RRC opened at $40.12 on Friday. Range Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $27.29 and a 1 year high of $41.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.14. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.63.

Range Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 32.14%.

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.