California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 16,172 Shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 404,306 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 16,172 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $14,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RRC. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,114 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Range Resources by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 144,959 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $5,216,000 after buying an additional 24,400 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Range Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $825,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Range Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 79,037 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $2,844,000 after acquiring an additional 5,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Range Resources Stock Performance

Shares of RRC stock opened at $33.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.73. 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 Co. has a one year low of $27.29 and a one year high of $41.95. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.29 and its 200 day moving average is $35.46.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.13. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The firm had revenue of $626.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $676.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on RRC shares. Bank of America raised shares of Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays set a $43.00 price target on shares of Range Resources and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup downgraded Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Range Resources from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Range Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.60.

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.