Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $42.50 and last traded at $41.89, with a volume of 448458 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on RRC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Range Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup lowered shares of Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Range Resources from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Range Resources from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Roth Capital raised Range Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Range Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.95.

Range Resources Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.27.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.14%.

Insider Activity at Range Resources

In related news, Director James M. Funk sold 13,582 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.03, for a total value of $475,777.46. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Erin W. Mcdowell sold 9,568 shares of Range Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.62, for a total transaction of $388,652.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $560,556. The trade was a 40.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,080 shares of company stock valued at $2,984,479 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Range Resources

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in Range Resources by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 262,382 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $10,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Range Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $1,211,000. 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 during the period. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in Range Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $285,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Range Resources during the first quarter valued at about $126,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.93% of the company’s stock.

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.