Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Stock

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $9.00 to $11.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.43% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $6.00 target price (down from $7.00) on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, October 13th. Tudor Pickering downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $6.00 target price (down from $7.00) on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.39.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:PTEN traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,465,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,634,617. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 52-week low of $5.10 and a 52-week high of $9.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $6.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of -34.30 and a beta of 0.76.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a negative return on equity of 1.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.13) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Patterson-UTI Energy will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 368,254 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.87, for a total transaction of $2,161,650.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 207,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,215,090. This represents a 64.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,847,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 71.9% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 551,671 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 230,800 shares during the last quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd increased its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 65.1% during the third quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 554,993 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,875,000 after acquiring an additional 218,856 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the second quarter worth about $577,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,463,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $85,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,746,159 shares during the period. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy provides a comprehensive suite of onshore contract drilling and pressure pumping services to exploration and production companies in North America. The company’s core offerings include land-based drilling rigs, directional drilling, hydraulic fracturing services, downhole tool rental and well-servicing equipment. By integrating drilling and completion capabilities, Patterson-UTI Energy offers operators a streamlined solution designed to improve operational efficiency and well performance.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Patterson-UTI Energy traces its origins to its founding in 1978 and was later incorporated in Delaware in 1996.