Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) Short Interest Up 19.7% in February

Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 13,040,000 shares, an increase of 19.7% from the February 13th total of 10,890,000 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Range Resources Price Performance

RRC traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.62. The stock had a trading volume of 2,278,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,296,994. The company has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.41 and a 200 day moving average of $34.58. 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 has a 1 year low of $27.29 and a 1 year high of $41.95.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $626.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $676.53 million. Range Resources had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 17.63%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Range Resources will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 32.73%.

Institutional Trading of Range Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RRC. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Range Resources by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,057,280 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $181,961,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,304 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Range Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,684,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 233.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,180,913 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $44,308,000 after acquiring an additional 826,530 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,330,676 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $263,768,000 after acquiring an additional 624,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,238,863 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $80,554,000 after acquiring an additional 605,315 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RRC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Range Resources from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho upped their price target on Range Resources from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Range Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Range Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.95.

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.