Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $44.00

Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seventeen have given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.00.

RRC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens boosted their price target on Range Resources from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research raised Range Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Raymond James Financial set a $45.00 price objective on Range Resources in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on Range Resources from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Range Resources from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th.

Range Resources Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:RRC opened at $41.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Range Resources has a 1-year low of $32.68 and a 1-year high of $48.31.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.13. Range Resources had a net margin of 25.04% and a return on equity of 18.63%. The company had revenue of $759.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.78 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Range Resources’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Range Resources will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Range Resources

In related news, Director Reginal Spiller sold 3,500 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,421 shares in the company, valued at $536,840. This trade represents a 20.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Range Resources

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Range Resources in the second quarter valued at about $868,085,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Range Resources by 2.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,192,740 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $415,354,000 after purchasing an additional 227,711 shares in the last quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC raised its holdings in Range Resources by 35.9% during the first quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC now owns 2,721,749 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $122,969,000 after purchasing an additional 718,648 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in Range Resources by 45.6% during the first quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 2,290,309 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $103,476,000 after purchasing an additional 717,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Range Resources by 1.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,962,499 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $88,666,000 after purchasing an additional 22,278 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

About Range Resources

Range Resources Corporation is an independent natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and oil producer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. The company explores for, develops and produces hydrocarbons, with a primary focus on unconventional shale resources in the Appalachian Basin.

Range’s principal operating area is the Marcellus Shale in southwestern Pennsylvania, where it produces natural gas, NGLs and condensate. Its products are sold to customers through regional and interstate pipeline systems and other market channels serving utilities, industrial users, power generators and other energy markets.

Founded in 1976, Range Resources has historically operated in several U.S.