Royce & Associates LP Has $496,000 Position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. $PTEN

Key Points

• Royce & Associates cut its stake in Patterson‑UTI by 93.0% in Q3, selling 1,271,115 shares and leaving 95,685 shares valued at about $496,000.
• Patterson‑UTI beat Q expectations with EPS of ($0.02) vs. est. ($0.11) and revenue of $1.15 billion, but the company still posts negative margins and the analyst consensus is a "Hold" with an average target of $8.11.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.10 (annualized $0.40, yield 4.5%), even as a director sold 368,254 shares in December, reducing their ownership by ~64%.

Royce & Associates LP cut its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Free Report) by 93.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,685 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 1,271,115 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP's holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PTEN. Tejara Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 65.1% in the third quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 554,993 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,875,000 after buying an additional 218,856 shares during the period. 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. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,489,694 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $7,717,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $577,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 23.4% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

Shares of PTEN stock opened at $8.97 on Friday. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.10 and a 52 week high of $9.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $7.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.88 and a beta of 0.71.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.13) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy's dividend payout ratio is -160.00%.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In related news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 368,254 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.87, for a total value of $2,161,650.98. Following the sale, the director directly owned 207,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,215,090. This trade represents a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PTEN. 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 target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $8.11.

Patterson-UTI Energy Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.