Barclays Cuts Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Price Target to $8.00

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) had its price target cut by Barclays from $11.00 to $8.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PTEN. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.88.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of PTEN opened at $5.64 on Monday. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 12-month low of $5.12 and a 12-month high of $11.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.28 and a beta of 1.60.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.04. Patterson-UTI Energy had a positive return on equity of 0.81% and a negative net margin of 18.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. Patterson-UTI Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.67%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -12.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 48,149 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.42, for a total transaction of $357,265.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 85,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,224.50. This represents a 36.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $7.88 per share, for a total transaction of $197,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,482,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. The trade was a 1.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 1.9% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,346,541 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,069,000 after buying an additional 25,345 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the first quarter valued at $239,000. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the first quarter worth $518,000. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 25.2% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,592 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 49,443 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

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.