Range Resources Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:RRC)

Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 5,922 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 190% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,044 call options.

Range Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RRC opened at $41.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.55. Range Resources has a 12 month low of $30.32 and a 12 month high of $43.50.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $786.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.92 million. Range Resources had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 21.12%.Range Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 30.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Range Resources will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Range Resources’s payout ratio is presently 13.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on RRC. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (down from $44.00) on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Range Resources from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Range Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Range Resources from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Range Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Range Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RRC. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Range Resources by 59.3% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,817,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $445,196,000 after purchasing an additional 4,398,042 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Range Resources by 230.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,785,940 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $194,644,000 after buying an additional 3,336,299 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Range Resources by 517.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,440,277 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $91,852,000 after buying an additional 2,045,165 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Range Resources in the third quarter worth $66,560,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,588,540 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $126,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Range Resources Company Profile

Range Resources Corporation, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids. The company focuses its core operations on the Appalachian Basin, with a significant presence in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale. Through its drilling and completion activities, Range Resources seeks to optimize production efficiency while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation and cost management.

The company’s technical expertise centers on advanced horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques, which it applies to unlock unconventional resources.