Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.
According to Zacks, “Patterson-UTI's business is set to benefit from its proprietary design and technologically advanced ‘Apex’ rigs, which are better suited for the new demands of the exploration business thereby commanding higher dayrates and utilization than rigs from other land drillers. Further, the strategic acquisitions of Seventy-Seven and MS Energy have not only bolstered PTENs scale and customer base but will also provide a huge impetus to the earnings and revenues in the coming quarters. However, the company's string of loss-making quarters continues. This combined with an underperforming pressure pumping business could spell troubling times ahead. Further, Patterson-UTI’s contract drilling operation has been experiencing rig cancellations from customers over the sharp drop in oil prices. Hence, Patterson-UTI warrants a cautious stance from the investors.”
Get Patterson-UTI Energy alerts:A number of other research firms have also issued reports on PTEN. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James set a $20.00 price target on Patterson-UTI Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 8th. Piper Jaffray Companies set a $20.00 price target on Patterson-UTI Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 17th. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Patterson-UTI Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.07.
Shares of NASDAQ:PTEN traded up $0.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $14.19. 131,099 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,965,031. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.74 and a beta of 1.35. Patterson-UTI Energy has a fifty-two week low of $9.49 and a fifty-two week high of $23.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.
Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 7th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $795.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.10 million. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.93% and a negative net margin of 9.66%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Patterson-UTI Energy will post -0.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Patterson-UTI Energy declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.
In other news, Director Curtis W. Huff acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.14 per share, for a total transaction of $202,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 113,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,148,902.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 65,236 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 4,856 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 8.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,764,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $67,762,000 after purchasing an additional 289,056 shares during the period. Atria Investments LLC raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 36.0% during the third quarter. Atria Investments LLC now owns 31,087 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 8,235 shares during the last quarter. Aperio Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 24.1% during the third quarter. Aperio Group LLC now owns 142,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,430,000 after buying an additional 27,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oakbrook Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 34.4% during the third quarter. Oakbrook Investments LLC now owns 27,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 7,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.
Patterson-UTI Energy Company Profile
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides onshore contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments, Contract Drilling and Pressure Pumping. The Contract Drilling segment markets its contract drilling services primarily in Texas, southeastern New Mexico, northern Louisiana, Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, western Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and western Canada.
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