Empowered Funds LLC Decreases Stock Position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its stake in shares of Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) by 7.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,443 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 5,859 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $2,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Range Resources by 21.2% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,709 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Range Resources by 5.4% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,801 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC lifted its position in Range Resources by 3.6% during the third quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Range Resources by 1.0% during the third quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC now owns 53,993 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,661,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its position in Range Resources by 6.0% during the second quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 10,650 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Range Resources Stock Up 0.3 %

Range Resources stock opened at $34.34 on Wednesday. Range Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.29 and a fifty-two week high of $39.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.34 and a beta of 1.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.57.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.16. Range Resources had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 17.63%. The business had revenue of $615.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $617.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Range Resources Co. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Range Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Range Resources

In other Range Resources news, VP Ashley Kavanaugh sold 12,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total transaction of $399,415.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,121.50. This represents a 56.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles G. Griffie acquired 1,275 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $31.46 per share, with a total value of $40,111.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,921 shares in the company, valued at $186,274.66. The trade was a 27.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on RRC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Range Resources from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Range Resources from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Range Resources from $37.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Range Resources in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Range Resources from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.94.

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.