Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Capital One Financial upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $9.42, but opened at $9.81. Capital One Financial now has a $12.00 price target on the stock. Patterson-UTI Energy shares last traded at $9.7050, with a volume of 762,134 shares trading hands.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 164,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.18, for a total transaction of $1,677,409.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PTEN. Sourcerock Group LLC lifted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 109.2% during the second quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 13,803,775 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $81,856,000 after buying an additional 7,205,652 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 176.6% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 9,228,022 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $47,801,000 after buying an additional 5,891,956 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 110.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,559,219 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $64,517,000 after buying an additional 5,551,276 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 121.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 8,320,544 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $50,839,000 after buying an additional 4,558,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 97.7% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,989,351 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $46,565,000 after buying an additional 4,442,700 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 3.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of -39.04 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.51.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.09. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.94%.The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. Patterson-UTI Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a positive change from Patterson-UTI Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -160.00%.

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.