New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. $PTEN

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 8.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,594,124 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 129,123 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.41% of Patterson-UTI Energy worth $9,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTEN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $25,987,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $85,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,746,159 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $22,563,000. Monaco Asset Management SAM boosted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 694.8% in the 2nd quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 3,060,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $18,146,000 after buying an additional 2,675,000 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 432.7% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 1,990,688 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $16,363,000 after buying an additional 1,617,019 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

Patterson-UTI Energy stock opened at $6.48 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of -18.00 and a beta of 0.77. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.10 and a twelve month high of $9.57.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 21st. The oil and gas company reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 2.65% and a negative net margin of 2.81%.The company had revenue of $191.70 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -88.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Patterson-UTI Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.39.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

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.