Evercore ISI Cuts Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Price Target to $17.00

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) had its price objective trimmed by Evercore ISI from $18.00 to $17.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

PTEN has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Susquehanna restated a positive rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Benchmark lowered Patterson-UTI Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $15.67.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

Shares of PTEN opened at $10.97 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $11.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.44. Patterson-UTI Energy has a one year low of $9.70 and a one year high of $16.17. The company has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 4.07%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

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 that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 2,473,239 shares in the company, valued at $29,011,093.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC purchased a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 320.7% during the first quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 2,091 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 40.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 66.5% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,335 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.