RPC (NYSE:RES) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $6.94, but opened at $6.70. RPC shares last traded at $6.70, with a volume of 228,236 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on RPC from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of RPC from $6.75 to $5.25 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of RPC from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th.

RPC Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.55. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $6.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.66.

RPC (NYSE:RES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $364.20 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was down 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that RPC, Inc. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

RPC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. RPC's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.86%.

Institutional Trading of RPC

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in RPC by 256.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,112 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3,678 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RPC in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in RPC in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Syon Capital LLC acquired a new position in RPC during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in RPC by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,821 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 4,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.06% of the company's stock.

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.