Short Interest in RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES) Decreases By 13.0%

RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,330,000 shares, a decline of 13.0% from the August 31st total of 22,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 10.2 days. Currently, 20.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

RPC Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:RES opened at $6.29 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.73. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.56. RPC has a twelve month low of $5.66 and a twelve month high of $9.41.

RPC (NYSE:RES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $364.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.18 million. RPC had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 11.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that RPC will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RPC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. RPC’s payout ratio is 22.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RPC

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in RPC by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,401,619 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,204,000 after acquiring an additional 153,518 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of RPC by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 81,425 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 10,737 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in RPC by 304,100.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,126 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 9,123 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in RPC in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in RPC in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RES has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of RPC from $6.75 to $5.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of RPC from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on RPC from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th.

About RPC

RPC, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages provision of a range of oilfield services and equipment for the oil and gas companies involved in the exploration, production, and development of oil and gas properties. The company operates through Technical Services and Support Services segments. The Technical Services segment offers pressure pumping, fracturing, acidizing, cementing, downhole tools, coiled tubing, snubbing, nitrogen, well control, wireline, pump down, and fishing services that are used in the completion, production, and maintenance of oil and gas wells.