Patterson-UTI Energy’s (PTEN) Positive Rating Reaffirmed at Susquehanna

Susquehanna restated their positive rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $16.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Benchmark lowered Patterson-UTI Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered Patterson-UTI Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued a neutral rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $16.33.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Down 3.2 %

PTEN opened at $12.12 on Monday. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 1-year low of $9.70 and a 1-year high of $16.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.22.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 5.94%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.68%.

Insider Transactions at Patterson-UTI Energy

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total transaction of $2,204,254.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,473,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,011,093.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. WBI Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $1,610,000. Walleye Trading LLC bought a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the third quarter valued at about $2,830,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 20.0% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,559,482 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $35,424,000 after purchasing an additional 425,975 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 73.1% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 784,788 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,861,000 after purchasing an additional 331,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 93.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 69,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 33,706 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Drilling Services, Completion Services, and Drilling Products. The Contract Drilling Services segment provides contract and directional drilling services in onshore oil and natural gas basins, as well as engages in the service and re-certification of equipment for drilling contractors, and provision of electrical controls and automation to the energy, marine and mining industries.