Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $46.27 and last traded at $46.1410, with a volume of 533378 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $45.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on RRC. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Range Resources from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Range Resources from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Range Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target (down from $44.00) on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.76.

Range Resources Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.45. The company has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $786.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.92 million. Range Resources had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 21.12%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Range Resources Corporation will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a boost from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Range Resources’s payout ratio is presently 14.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Range Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Range Resources by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,660,494 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $975,311,000 after buying an additional 326,748 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Range Resources by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,553,637 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $901,021,000 after acquiring an additional 701,751 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,467,808 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $474,585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,258 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Range Resources by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,965,029 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $316,123,000 after acquiring an additional 673,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lingotto Investment Management LLP grew its position in Range Resources by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 7,161,614 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $291,263,000 after acquiring an additional 138,877 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

About Range Resources

Range Resources Corporation, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids. The company focuses its core operations on the Appalachian Basin, with a significant presence in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale. Through its drilling and completion activities, Range Resources seeks to optimize production efficiency while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation and cost management.

The company’s technical expertise centers on advanced horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques, which it applies to unlock unconventional resources.