Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 32,019 Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,019 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,152,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RRC. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Range Resources by 180.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 222,017 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $6,830,000 after buying an additional 142,938 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Range Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,792,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Range Resources by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,997 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 3,466 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Range Resources by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,148 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Range Resources by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 66,630 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

Range Resources Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of RRC stock opened at $40.11 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $36.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.46. The company has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.60. Range Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.29 and a fifty-two week high of $41.95. 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 (NYSE:RRC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $626.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Range Resources

In other Range Resources news, CEO Dennis Degner sold 35,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.42, for a total value of $1,449,057.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,361,781.02. This trade represents a 38.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James M. Funk sold 13,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $1,905,421.82. This represents a 19.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,880 shares of company stock valued at $2,815,807. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RRC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Capital upgraded Range Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on Range Resources from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Range Resources from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Range Resources from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Range Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.85.

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.