520,448 Shares in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Purchased by Ruffer LLP

Key Points

• Ruffer LLP acquired a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy by purchasing 520,448 shares valued at approximately $4.3 million, representing around 0.13% of the company's stock.
• Several institutional investors made significant changes to their stakes in Patterson-UTI Energy, with Alliancebernstein L.P. increasing its position by 66.0%.
• Patterson-UTI Energy reported a revenue drop of 9.6% year-over-year, with an EPS of ($0.06) for the last quarter, failing to meet the consensus estimate.

Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 520,448 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $4,278,000. Ruffer LLP owned approximately 0.13% of Patterson-UTI Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PTEN. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 89.1% during 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 in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $105,089,000 after buying an additional 2,569,713 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,351,001 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 4.1% in the fourth 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 stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,506,536 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $20,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,702 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

PTEN stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.42. The stock had a trading volume of 3,935,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,628,269. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of -1.96 and a beta of 1.30. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.12 and a 52-week high of $9.66.

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

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PTEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $8.27.

Patterson-UTI Energy 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.