: RPC doubles dividend to boost yield above peers and S&P 500

Shares of RPC Inc. RES were indicated up about 4% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the oilfield services company doubled its dividend and beat fourth-quarter profit and revenue expectations. The quarterly dividend was raised to 4 cents a share from 2 cents. Based on Tuesday’s stock closing price of $8.59, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 1.86%, which compares with the yield for the VanEck Oil Services ETF OIH of 0.91% and the implied yield for the S&P 500 SPX of 1.68%. Separately, the company reported fourth-quarter net income that rose to $87.0 million from $69.3 million, while earnings per share excluding nonrecurring items of 41 cents a share topped the FactSet consensus of 29 cents. Revenue grew 4.9% to $482.0 million, above the FactSet consensus of $457.5 million. The stock has lost 6.9% over the past three months while the oil services ETF has rallied 11.9% and the S&P 500 has gained 4.1%.

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