Hedge Funds Are Buying Range Resources Corp. (RRC)

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) was in 31 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. RRC investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 30 hedge funds in our database with RRC holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

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Just as important, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are plenty of reasons for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action surrounding Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC).

What have hedge funds been doing with Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 31 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 3% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Blue Ridge Capital, managed by John Griffin, holds the largest position in Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC). Blue Ridge Capital has a $259.2 million position in the stock, comprising 3.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Elliott Management, managed by Paul Singer, which held a $201.6 million call position; the fund has 4.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Alan Fournier’s Pennant Capital Management, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have jumped into Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) headfirst. Elliott Management, managed by Paul Singer, created the largest call position in Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC). Elliott Management had 201.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management also initiated a $36.3 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new RRC investors: George Soros’s Soros Fund Management, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, and Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group.

How are insiders trading Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 14 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC). These stocks are Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:COG), Talisman Energy Inc. (USA) (NYSE:TLM), Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), and Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN). This group of stocks are in the independent oil & gas industry and their market caps resemble RRC’s market cap.