StockNews.com Downgrades Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on RRC. Scotiabank lowered Range Resources from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Range Resources from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Range Resources from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Range Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.95.

Range Resources Price Performance

Shares of Range Resources stock opened at $40.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.62. Range Resources has a twelve month low of $27.29 and a twelve month high of $41.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.13. Range Resources had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 17.63%. The company had revenue of $626.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $676.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Range Resources will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Range Resources by 3.1% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,790 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in Range Resources by 5.7% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 6,848 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position 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 buying an additional 378 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Range Resources by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Range Resources by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 31,410 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

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.