Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Increases Stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,238 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $3,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 87.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Range Resources by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,148 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Range Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Range Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Range Resources by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,544 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. 98.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Range Resources Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of RRC stock opened at $33.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.63. Range Resources Co. has a one year low of $27.29 and a one year high of $41.95.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last announced 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 return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 17.63%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is a boost from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RRC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Range Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank lowered Range Resources from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Range Resources from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.43.

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.