Scotiabank Downgrades Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) to Sector Perform

Scotiabank downgraded shares of Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $45.00 price objective on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $40.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on RRC. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Range Resources from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Benchmark lowered shares of Range Resources from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $34.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Range Resources in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Range Resources currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $35.25.

Range Resources Price Performance

NYSE RRC opened at $36.01 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.83. Range Resources has a 52-week low of $23.92 and a 52-week high of $37.88.

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $941.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $672.25 million. Range Resources had a net margin of 25.82% and a return on equity of 15.87%. The firm’s revenue was down 42.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Range Resources will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Range Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Range Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RRC. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Range Resources by 12.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 45,351 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after buying an additional 4,987 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Range Resources by 31.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 35,865 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after buying an additional 8,648 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in Range Resources during the first quarter worth $213,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Range Resources during the first quarter worth $7,059,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Range Resources by 1,102.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 151,710 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $4,609,000 after purchasing an additional 139,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.