Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Upgraded at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $10.00 price objective on the oil and gas company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $11.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PTEN. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com cut Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 12th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.71.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

PTEN opened at $7.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.53 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.96. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 1-year low of $7.38 and a 1-year high of $12.65.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 35.9% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 19,972,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $152,793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,275,525 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 9.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,435,258 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $118,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352,840 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,980,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $68,717,000 after purchasing an additional 478,064 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 14.7% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 6,069,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $62,880,000 after purchasing an additional 778,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 62.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,683,096 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $58,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

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.