Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Price Target Lowered to $14.00 at Bank of America

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) had its target price reduced by Bank of America from $14.50 to $14.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on PTEN. Susquehanna reiterated a positive rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. They set a neutral rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark cut Patterson-UTI Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut Patterson-UTI Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock opened at $11.49 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.67. Patterson-UTI Energy has a one year low of $9.70 and a one year high of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 5.94%. Equities analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 31.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Patterson-UTI Energy 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 value 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WBI Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $1,610,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 632,943 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 114,868 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $2,830,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,559,482 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,424,000 after acquiring an additional 425,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 73.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 784,788 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,861,000 after acquiring an additional 331,488 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is 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.