RPC (RES) Shares Surge 16.5% MTD: What's Behind the Rally?

RES SMLP

RPC, Inc.’s (RES - Free Report) shares have jumped 16.5% month to date (MTD) compared with the industry’s 4.2% growth. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has witnessed upward revisions for bottom-line estimates for 2020 and 2021 in the past 30 days.

Let’s delve into the factors behind the stock’s price appreciation.

What’s Favoring the Stock?

Although the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude — currently hovering around the $45 per barrel mark — has declined significantly from the price of more than $60 per barrel at the beginning of 2020, the commodity price has improved drastically over the past few months. Positive developments on the coronavirus vaccine front has been primarily aiding the momentum.

The possibility that the United States will soon roll out coronavirus vaccine and optimism surrounding ongoing negotiations for a new coronavirus relief package are the two main things that energy investors are now keeping an eye on. In fact, most of the investors are hopeful that fuel demand will recover considerably once majority of people in the world are vaccinated. Thus, possibilities of a rebound of energy, now a beaten-down sector, by the next year are high.

Overall, the improvement in crude prices is a boon for oil explorers & producers, which is evident from the bringing back of oil rigs to domestic plays by upstream players. This, in turn, will benefit oilfield service providers like RPC since they help oil drillers in efficiently setting up oil wells. Notably, RPC is a leading provider of specialized oilfield services to oil explorers and producers in prolific domestic plays.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked players in the energy space include Summit Midstream Partners, LP (SMLP - Free Report) , DCP Midstream, LP and HighPoint Resources Corporation , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Summit Midstream has seen upward earnings estimate revisions for 2020 in the past seven days.

DCP Midstream has seen upward estimate revisions for 2020 earnings in the past 30 days.

HighPoint is likely to see earnings growth of 167.5% in 2020.

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