Back on topic, with a question for those of you with hands-on experience in the oil service business (or anyone else who chooses to answer).
What do you know about/think of the operations of RPC (RES), the parent company of Cudd Pressure Control, Cudd Well Control, and EPI Engineering-Consulting? (What the "parent company" does on its own, I haven't the faintest.)
This is all I know (garnered from the company web site):
Cudd Pressure Control's services include coiled tubing, nitrogen, snubbing, wireline, marine (liftboats and barges), hot tap and valve drilling. Where coiled tubing is concerned, it claims to be "the industry leader."
Cudd Well Control. Does: oilwell firefighting, blowouts. (RES also runs a "Well Control School.") Looks as if we have a competitor for Coots & Boots here! But according to a company official (interviewed last September in "Offshore" magazine), the company has "always focussed on a broader approach to well control, offering coiled tubing, wireline services, and safety training as well as well control. Cudd also offers engineering services to clients..." He also said that "snubbing services are the company's real strength."
Offshore's commentary: "This type of diversification may not be new for Cudd, but it has taken the industry by storm. The reasons are simple. By consulting with clients on everything from well design to emergency response plans, well control companies create steady cash flow. The traditional emergency response approach was not only more expensive to undertake, but produced a feast-or-famine environment for companies which lived on earnings from one accident to the next" (e.g., WEL - jbe).
Why am I curious about RES?
First of all -- TAers take note -- it's been giving a number of positive breakout signals lately(according to Telescan), and seems to be in an uptrend(although its Wilder RSI is high).
Secondly, RES looks good, from the point of view of its present fundamentals. (Unfortunately -- or fortunately -- no analysts follow it, so there are no projections available.) Nice low valuation ratios. EPS/sales/cash flow growth has been good, but not remarkable. What IS remarkable is that the growth rate of all three has been accelerating (at a time when most other companies in the industry are experiencing a decline in their growth rates). Even more remarkable is its record of EPS consistency: it scores in the 97th percentile for 10-year, and in the 99th for 5-year EPS consistency. That is extraordinary -- in fact, unique -- for a cyclical industry like oil services.
Curious -- why no analysts? RES is a mid-small cap, not a micro-cap. And it's been around a long time.
Anyway, ANY thoughts on the foregoing would be appreciated.
jbe
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