Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Trading Down 5.4% – Time to Sell?

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)’s stock price fell 5.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $10.41 and last traded at $10.2440. 988,598 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 11,187,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PTEN. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective (down from $7.00) on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.11.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.94 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.09. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Patterson-UTI Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s payout ratio is -160.00%.

Insider Transactions at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 164,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.18, for a total transaction of $1,677,409.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTEN. Sourcerock Group LLC grew its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 109.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 13,803,775 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $81,856,000 after buying an additional 7,205,652 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 176.6% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 9,228,022 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $47,801,000 after buying an additional 5,891,956 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,559,219 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $64,517,000 after acquiring an additional 5,551,276 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 121.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 8,320,544 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $50,839,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 97.7% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,989,351 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $46,565,000 after acquiring an additional 4,442,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

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.