RPC (NYSE:RES) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• RPC's shares crossed above their 200‑day moving average (200‑day MA $5.77) and traded as high as $7.00, closing around $6.983 with volume of about 2.69 million shares (stock up ~4.8%).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed to negative: four analysts rate RPC a Hold and one a Sell, with a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $5.50, though Susquehanna recently raised its target to $7.00.
• Fundamentals are mixed—quarterly EPS missed at $0.04 vs. $0.07 expected while revenue grew 26.9% to $425.8M—and the company pays a $0.04 quarterly dividend (2.3% yield) but with a payout ratio of 106.7%, a potential red flag for sustainability.

RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES - Get Free Report)'s share price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $5.77 and traded as high as $7.00. RPC shares last traded at $6.9830, with a volume of 2,685,010 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of RPC in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of RPC in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of RPC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of RPC from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $5.50.

RPC Stock Up 4.8%

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $6.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.77. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.55 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

RPC (NYSE:RES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $425.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $423.30 million. RPC had a return on equity of 5.24% and a net margin of 1.97%.RPC's quarterly revenue was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that RPC, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RPC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. RPC's dividend payout ratio is 106.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RPC

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of RPC by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,660,219 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $63,432,000 after purchasing an additional 213,956 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of RPC by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,049,407 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $22,029,000 after purchasing an additional 233,646 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of RPC by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,960,190 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $18,851,000 after purchasing an additional 308,361 shares in the last quarter. IES Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of RPC in the 4th quarter valued at $14,144,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of RPC by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,508,890 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $13,648,000 after purchasing an additional 288,917 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.06% of the company's stock.

RPC Company Profile

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.

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