StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PTEN. Raymond James assumed coverage on Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Friday, December 9th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. They set a hold rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $21.05.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of PTEN stock opened at $11.36 on Thursday. Patterson-UTI Energy has a fifty-two week low of $10.69 and a fifty-two week high of $20.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 0.11 and a beta of 2.30.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. Patterson-UTI Energy had a net margin of 5.84% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The firm had revenue of $788.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $758.68 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.38) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 69.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 1st. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.07%.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 40,347,866 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $471,264,000 after buying an additional 1,418,479 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,644,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $299,525,000 after acquiring an additional 369,428 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 14,439,073 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $243,154,000 after acquiring an additional 545,790 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 5.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,578,716 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $111,882,000 after purchasing an additional 534,785 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 8.6% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,833,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $136,746,000 after purchasing an additional 697,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.57% of the company’s stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc engages in the provision of drilling and pressure pumping services, directional drilling, rental equipment, and technology. It operates through the following segments: Contract Drilling Services, Pressure Pumping Services, and Directional Drilling Services. The Contract Drilling Services segment markets its services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and Colombia.