Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 63,471 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PTEN. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 89.1% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,954,738 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $140,046,000 after purchasing an additional 7,989,877 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 12,784,573 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $105,089,000 after buying an additional 2,569,713 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,208,086 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $51,279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,351,001 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,288,829 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $35,426,000 after acquiring an additional 170,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,506,536 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $20,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,702 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:PTEN traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.43. The company had a trading volume of 6,673,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,648,069. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.82. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.97 and a beta of 1.30. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.12 and a 1-year high of $9.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.94% and a negative net margin of 21.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. Patterson-UTI Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently -11.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PTEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $6.50 price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $8.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.27.

Patterson-UTI Energy Company Profile

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.