Range Resources Stock Rises After BofA Upgrade, Price Target Hike: Retail Sentiment Soars

Range Resources rose 2.1% during premarket trade on Monday after BofA Global Research upgraded the natural gas producer to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral.’

According to TheFly, BofA also raised the stock's price target to $45 from $34. The new price target implies an upside of 18% compared to the stock’s last close. 

The BofA analyst wrote that gas-levered explorers and producers have outperformed their oil-levered counterparts by more than 30% since August.

The analyst added that the market has "finally repriced both baskets to their respective forward curves" at $65/barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude and $3.75 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) for benchmark U.S. natural gas.

BofA also said that artificial intelligence and its derivates are multi-year themes for the natural gas sector that would support and fundamentally reset the U.S. gas industry. 

The firm estimated that natural gas prices could hit $4 per MMBtu if the momentum continues.  

Following the upgrade, retail sentiment on Stocktwits jumped to ‘extremely bullish’ (89/100) territory from ‘neutral’(46/100) a day ago, while retail chatter jumped to ‘extremely high.’

One user commented on how a 5-year-old bet on the stock has paid off.

Range Resources' core undrilled natural gas inventory is located in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus basin, the largest shale gas deposit in the U.S. 

According to a company presentation from October, demand for U.S. natural gas could rise by 22 billion cubic feet per day from 2024 levels due to electricity generation, liquefied natural gas production, and exports to Mexico. 

Meanwhile, the stock has gained nearly 24% over the past year. 

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