Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

RRC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Range Resources from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Range Resources from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Roth Capital raised shares of Range Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Range Resources from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.85.

Range Resources Trading Up 0.2%

RRC stock opened at $39.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.60. Range Resources has a 12 month low of $27.29 and a 12 month high of $41.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.67 and its 200 day moving average is $36.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $626.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $676.53 million. Range Resources had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.69%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Range Resources will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James M. Funk sold 13,582 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.03, for a total value of $475,777.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,394 shares in the company, valued at $1,905,421.82. This trade represents a 19.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dennis Degner sold 35,850 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.42, for a total transaction of $1,449,057.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,361,781.02. This trade represents a 38.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,880 shares of company stock worth $2,815,807. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Range Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Range Resources by 2,646.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 75,139 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 72,403 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Range Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $285,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Range Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $126,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Range Resources by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 466,796 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $18,639,000 after buying an additional 8,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Range Resources by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 75,851 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,029,000 after buying an additional 1,563 shares during the last quarter. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Range Resources Company 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.