Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Trading 6.7% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) shares jumped about 6.7% intraday after Capital One Financial upgraded the stock to an overweight and set a $12 price target; shares peaked at $10.52 on significantly lighter-than-average volume (3.16M vs. avg 11.16M).
• Analyst coverage is mixed: MarketBeat shows 1 Strong Buy, 6 Buy, 5 Hold and 2 Sell with a consensus target of $9.90, while several firms (Citigroup, RBC, Zacks) have recently raised price targets or ratings.
• Recent fundamentals: the most recent quarter beat EPS (-$0.02 vs. -$0.11) and revenue ($1.15B vs. $1.10B) but the company still reports negative net margin and ROE; Patterson-UTI raised its quarterly dividend to $0.10 (annualized yield ~3.8%) and an insider sold 164,775 shares.

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 6.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Capital One Financial upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Capital One Financial now has a $12.00 price target on the stock. Patterson-UTI Energy traded as high as $10.52 and last traded at $10.4260. 3,162,591 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 11,163,240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.77.

PTEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 164,775 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.18, for a total value of $1,677,409.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 360.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,934 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 3,862 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 127.3% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,970 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 3,343 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 5,554 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,049 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 187.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,591 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 4,299 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 7.1%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.54. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.78 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. Patterson-UTI Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given 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 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -160.00%.

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.

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