Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) Shares Purchased by Kennedy Capital Management LLC

Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 41.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 525,155 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,435 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $18,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RRC. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Range Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,684,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in Range Resources by 233.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,180,913 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $44,308,000 after purchasing an additional 826,530 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,579,579 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $48,588,000 after acquiring an additional 604,199 shares during the period. Telemark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Range Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,392,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in Range Resources by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,976,052 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $287,078,000 after acquiring an additional 371,777 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Range Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Range Resources stock opened at $34.60 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.56. The company has a market capitalization of $8.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Range Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $27.29 and a 52 week high of $41.95.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last issued 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. 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 analyst estimates of $676.53 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Range Resources’s payout ratio is presently 32.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RRC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 5th. Roth Mkm raised shares of Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Range Resources in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $34.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.71.

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.