Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Stock Price Target Lowered at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered its Patterson-UTI Energy price target from $12.50 to $11.00 while maintaining a neutral rating; the new target implies 8.86% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst opinion remains broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $13.95, with nine Buy and six Hold ratings.
• Patterson-UTI beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.07 versus $0.04 expected and revenue of $1.34 billion, up 14.1% year over year.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by analysts at Citigroup from $12.50 to $11.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the oil and gas company's stock. Citigroup's price target points to a potential upside of 8.86% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PTEN. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.95.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Shares of PTEN stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.11. The company had a trading volume of 4,402,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,435,031. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 52-week low of $5.24 and a 52-week high of $13.39. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $11.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -168.60 and a beta of 0.79.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The oil and gas company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.03. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.58% and a negative net margin of 0.52%. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, EVP Seth Wexler sold 120,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.75, for a total transaction of $1,530,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 404,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,158,420.50. The trade was a 22.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO William Hendricks, Jr. sold 250,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.91, for a total transaction of $2,977,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,042,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,325,865.34. The trade was a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,027,000 shares of company stock valued at $12,698,780 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTEN. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $577,234,000. Webs Creek Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,729,934. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,132,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $38,766,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,211,576 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $229,732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745,872 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Company Profile

Patterson-UTI Energy provides contract drilling and related services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Its offerings include land-based drilling rigs, directional drilling, pressure pumping and other well-completion services, as well as equipment and technologies used in drilling operations. The company serves customers across major U.S. oil and gas regions, including the Permian Basin and other active shale areas. Its operations combine services that support wells through multiple stages, from drilling to completion.

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