RPC (NYSE:RES) Trading 5.9% Higher After Dividend Announcement

RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES) traded up 5.9% during trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $6.78 and last traded at $6.7250. 727,531 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 1,932,194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.35.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. RPC’s payout ratio is presently 69.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on RES shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on RPC from $5.75 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of RPC in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded RPC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of RPC in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of RPC from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.25.

RPC Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.13.

RPC (NYSE:RES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.04. RPC had a net margin of 3.12% and a return on equity of 5.58%. The business had revenue of $447.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that RPC, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RPC

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in RPC by 220.6% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,533 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 4,495 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of RPC by 243.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,681 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 6,153 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in RPC by 940.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,113 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of RPC in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in RPC by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 4,365 shares in the last quarter. 41.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About RPC

RPC, Inc (NYSE: RES) provides essential equipment and services to companies engaged in the exploration, production and maintenance of oil and natural gas wells. The firm operates as an equity interest holding company, partnering with a network of independent service businesses to deliver a comprehensive suite of offerings for well completion and production operations.

Through its affiliated service companies, RPC offers pressure pumping and fracturing services, coiled tubing and nitrogen pumping, downhole tools and telemetry solutions, well intervention and workover services, along with rental tools and supply-chain logistics.