Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Issues Earnings Results

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The oil and gas company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.02, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 5.94%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 EPS.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTEN traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $10.63. 8,888,085 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,549,391. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.41. Patterson-UTI Energy has a one year low of $9.70 and a one year high of $16.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.67 and a 200 day moving average of $11.53.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Patterson-UTI Energy’s payout ratio is currently 31.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total transaction of $2,204,254.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,473,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,011,093.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James dropped their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Benchmark downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy Company Profile

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.