Wall Street Zen Upgrades Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from “hold” to “buy.” Nine analysts rate the stock Buy and six Hold, giving it a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $14.09 price target.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.07, topping the $0.04 estimate, and revenue of $1.34 billion versus expectations of $1.31 billion. Revenue increased 14.1% year over year.
• Company insiders sold a combined 1.027 million shares worth about $12.7 million over the last quarter; insiders own 2.2% of the stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

PTEN has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $12.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $14.09.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTEN opened at $9.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -165.33 and a beta of 0.79. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 1-year low of $5.24 and a 1-year high of $13.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $11.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.61.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.91, for a total value of $2,977,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,042,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,325,865.34. This represents a 10.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James Stewart sold 207,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.54, for a total transaction of $2,388,780.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,027,000 shares of company stock worth $12,698,780 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $577,234,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,211,576 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $229,732,000 after buying an additional 2,745,872 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 11.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,450,347 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $102,347,000 after purchasing an additional 934,766 shares during the period. Webs Creek Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,729,934. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,132,000. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc is an oilfield services company that provides drilling, completion and production-related services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Its operations are primarily focused on onshore oil and gas development in the United States.

The company provides contract land drilling services through a fleet of rigs, as well as directional drilling and related technologies used to guide wellbores. Patterson-UTI also offers pressure pumping and hydraulic fracturing, wireline, well-completion, equipment rental and other services that support the development and maintenance of unconventional wells.

Patterson-UTI expanded its completion-services business through its 2023 merger with NexTier Oilfield Solutions.

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