RPC (NYSE:RES) Stock Price Up 5.9% Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES) shot up 5.9% on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $6.78 and last traded at $6.7250. 727,531 shares were traded during mid-day 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. RPC’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of RPC from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of RPC from $5.75 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of RPC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of RPC in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of RPC in a report on Monday, December 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $5.25.

RPC Stock Up 5.9%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $5.77 and its 200-day moving average is $5.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

RPC (NYSE:RES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.04. RPC had a return on equity of 5.58% and a net margin of 3.12%.The company had revenue of $447.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $402.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.09 EPS. RPC’s revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that RPC, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of RPC

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 during the period. Unison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in RPC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $687,000. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in RPC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in RPC by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 185,693 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 12,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in RPC by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,275,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,938,000 after purchasing an additional 23,523 shares during the period. 41.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.