Range Resources Corporation (RRC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Range Resources Corporation Annual Stockholder Meeting Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. David Poole. Sir, go ahead.

Thank you, Stacy, and thank you for joining the Range Resources Corporation Annual Stockholder Meeting. I'm David Poole, the Company's Corporate Secretary. As you're aware, we elected to conduct this year's meeting telephonically in light of the continued need to limit public meetings to help stop the spread of COVID-19. As those of you know if you've attended any of our prior meetings, we typically have a relatively short formal meeting. So if you have any questions about the meeting, we will have a few minutes for those questions at the end of the meeting. For any other questions about the company, our IR team is, as always, available to speak to you. At this time, I'm going to turn the meeting over to our Chairman, Greg Maxwell.

Thanks, David. Good morning, and welcome to the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Stockholders of Range Resources Corporation. As most of you know, I'm Greg Maxwell, Chairman of the Board. With us today telephonically are my fellow board members, Brenda Cline, Margaret Dorman, Jim Funk, Steve Gray, Steve Palko, and Jeff Ventura, who also serves as our CEO. On behalf of the entire Board, I want to express our heartfelt sympathy for all of those who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and reiterate our commitment to doing all we can to bring Range through this difficult time. We also wanted to thank you for voting your proxy this year, and I assure you the Board carefully considers the results of each year's proxy vote in making decisions about our company. Also present on the call representing our independent auditing firm, Ernst & Young, are Andrea Lovelady and [ Kamil Stal ]. David Poole will serve as Secretary and record the minutes of this meeting. David has also been designated to serve as the Inspector of Election of this meeting and has confirmed that a quorum is present. David?

Thank you, Greg. Under the company's bylaws, the Board of Directors set March 27, 2020, as the record date. Notice of this meeting was first mailed on April 7, 2020. On request, we can make available an affidavit of mailing and a certified list of the company's stockholders as of the record date as compiled by the company's transfer agent. There were 246,712,131 shares of common stock outstanding on the record date. Each outstanding share of common stock is entitled to 1 vote on the matters presented for a vote at this meeting. If anyone has a proxy for a stockholder or wants to vote telephonically, please enter the Q&A queue at this time. The proposals to be considered at this meeting are: first, the election of directors. The election is an uncontested election, so the stockholders will elect directors by a majority vote as provided by the company's bylaws. The directors who've been nominated are the present directors of the company, other than Mr. Tony Dub, who after long and distinguished service to the company, has retired from the Board. The second matter will be to consider and vote on a nonbinding advisory proposal regarding the company's executive compensation philosophy, usually referred to as Say on pay. The third item is the proposal to ratify the selection of Ernst & Young as the registered public accounting firm for our 2020 fiscal year. And the fourth matter is to seek approval of the amendment to the company's 2019 equity plan. There are over 214 million shares of common stock represented by proxy at this meeting, equal to 86.96% of the outstanding common stock of the company. In the voting for directors, the vote in favor was Brenda Cline, 91.7%; Margaret Dorman, 98.45%; Jim Funk, 96.86%; Steve Gray, 98.36%; Greg Maxwell, 98.55%; Steve Palko, 95.38%; and Jeff Ventura, our CEO at 99.08%. All seven, therefore, are elected. In the voting on the say on pay proposal, slightly over 59% of the votes were cast in favor. With approval of over 98% of the votes cast, Ernst & Young has been ratified as the company's registered public accounting firm. And in the voting regarding the equity plan, the proposal passed with votes in favor slightly over 70%. I'll turn it back over to you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, David. There being no further formal business to conduct. The meeting is hereby adjourned. If you have any questions, we will take them now. As I mentioned before, we would appreciate you directing your questions to the matters addressed during this meeting.

[Operator Instructions]

Mr. Chairman, we have no questions being submitted by the participants in the meeting.

Very good. Thank you, David. There being no further questions, I would like to thank you for attending our first virtual stockholder meeting at Range and for your interest in and support of the company. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation, and have a wonderful day. You may all disconnect.