RPC (NYSE:RES) Trading Down 9% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell about 9% intraday to $6.55 on light volume, and analysts have turned cautious—MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Reduce" with a $5.50 average price target.
• RPC missed quarterly EPS ($0.04 vs. $0.07 consensus) despite revenue beating and 26.9% YoY sales growth; sell-side forecasts expect about 0.31 EPS for the full year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend (annualized $0.16, ~2.4% yield) but has a payout ratio of 106.7%, raising sustainability concerns even though liquidity is strong (current ratio ~3.24) and leverage is low (debt/equity ~0.03).

Shares of RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES - Get Free Report) traded down 9% on Friday . The company traded as low as $6.54 and last traded at $6.5550. 1,015,226 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 2,460,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded RPC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Susquehanna raised their price target on RPC from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of RPC in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "underweight" rating on shares of RPC in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $5.50.

RPC Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.43 and a 200-day moving average of $5.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.63 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $425.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $423.30 million. RPC had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 5.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that RPC, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

RPC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. RPC's payout ratio is 106.67%.

Institutional Trading of RPC

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RES. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in RPC by 220.6% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,533 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,495 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in RPC by 243.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,681 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in RPC by 940.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,237 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in RPC in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 4,365 shares during the period. 41.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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