UPDATE 1-Bernstein begins coverage of Range Resources, 3 others

May 21 (Reuters) - Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage of four oil and gas companies, including Range Resources Corp (RRC.N) and Southwestern Energy Co (SWN.N), and said investors stand to benefit from their focus on different plays.

The brokerage began coverage of Range Resources, Southwestern, and Petrohawk Energy Corp (HK.N), with an "outperform" rating and Ultra Petroleum Corp (UPL.N) with a "market-perform" rating.

"With the gas market showing signs of improvement and the oil market rebounding, it is clear that investors seeking additional beta to an energy recovery in both commodities should consider looking at smaller companies," analyst Benjamin Dell wrote in a note to clients.

Dell said three of these oil and gas producers were best in class from an operating perspective, while Petrohawk could potentially control costs.

"Petrohawk, Southwestern, Range and Ultra are undoubtedly peas in a pod," Dell said.

While Ultra essentially focuses on Pinedale with an option on Marcellus shale, Petrohawk mostly focuses on Haynesville and to a lesser extent on Eagle Ford shale, the analyst said.

Southwestern is leveraged to Fayetteville and Range Resources to Marcellus shale, Dell said.

"While all four names have broadly similar businesses and are largely focused in the US, each company offers investors different leverage to geologic plays," the analyst said, but added the outlook appears most challenging for Ultra Petroleum. (Reporting by Arup Roychoudhury in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)