Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from “neutral” to “overweight” and set a $13 price target, implying about 34% upside from the current share price.
• The stock has seen mixed analyst sentiment, with several firms recently raising ratings or targets, but the overall consensus remains Hold with an average price target of $12.15.
• Patterson-UTI Energy recently posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and slightly beat revenue estimates, though revenue still fell 12.7% year over year and insiders have been net sellers of the stock in recent months.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Piper Sandler from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $13.00 price objective on the oil and gas company's stock. Piper Sandler's target price points to a potential upside of 34.30% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on PTEN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. KeyCorp upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Barclays raised Patterson-UTI Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $15.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.15.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of PTEN opened at $9.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.22 and a beta of 0.62. Patterson-UTI Energy has a one year low of $5.10 and a one year high of $13.08. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $10.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The oil and gas company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 2.32% and a negative net margin of 2.56%.Patterson-UTI Energy's revenue was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Patterson-UTI Energy will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, Director Cesar Jaime sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.29, for a total transaction of $122,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 77,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $952,007.98. This trade represents a 11.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 61,475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.02, for a total value of $738,929.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,128,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,567,851.46. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,007,844 shares of company stock worth $11,922,302 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PTEN. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 21,339 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,901 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 8,717 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 25,371 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 23,797 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

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.