WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys Shares of 22,917 Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC)

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 22,917 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RRC. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Range Resources in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Range Resources by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Range Resources by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,148 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Range Resources during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Range Resources by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,544 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. 98.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Range Resources Stock Performance

RRC opened at $39.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $9.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.17. Range Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.29 and a fifty-two week high of $41.95.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last released its quarterly 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. Range Resources had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 17.63%. The business had revenue of $626.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $676.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Range Resources Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. This is a positive change from Range Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Range Resources’s payout ratio is currently 32.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on RRC. Scotiabank lowered shares of Range Resources from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays set a $43.00 target price on shares of Range Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America raised Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered Range Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Range Resources from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Range Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.89.

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.