RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,440,000 shares, a decrease of 18.1% from the March 15th total of 18,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.0 days. Currently, 16.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of RPC

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of RPC by 6.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,082 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 2,288 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of RPC by 6.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,202,844 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,730,000 after purchasing an additional 245,372 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in RPC by 230.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 182,943 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 127,525 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in RPC by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 46,272 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 3,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of RPC by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 489,401 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,113,000 after buying an additional 71,064 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.06% of the company’s stock.

RPC Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE RES traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $4.95. 1,516,808 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,725,726. RPC has a twelve month low of $4.10 and a twelve month high of $8.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.93.

RPC (NYSE:RES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.06. RPC had a net margin of 6.46% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Equities research analysts predict that RPC will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RPC Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. RPC’s payout ratio is presently 37.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RES. Citigroup raised RPC from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $5.50 to $4.75 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of RPC from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th.

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.