Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.19 EPS

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.19), Zacks reports. Patterson Companies had a net margin of 2.37% and a return on equity of 19.77%.

Patterson Companies Price Performance

Shares of PDCO stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $31.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,021,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,227,805. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Patterson Companies has a fifty-two week low of $19.45 and a fifty-two week high of $31.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PDCO. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and set a $31.35 price objective (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs downgraded Patterson Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.57.

Insider Transactions at Patterson Companies

In other news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of Patterson Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total transaction of $45,282.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,736 shares in the company, valued at $5,140,746.88. This trade represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

About Patterson Companies

Patterson Companies, Inc engages in the distribution of dental and animal health products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The company operates through three segments: Dental, Animal Health, and Corporate segments. The Dental segment offers consumable products, including infection control, restorative materials, and instruments; basic and advanced technology and dental equipment; practice optimization solutions, such as practice management software, e-commerce, revenue cycle management, patient engagement solutions, and clinical and patient education systems.