Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

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

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Shares of PTEN traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $10.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,853,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,560,320. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 2.23. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 1-year low of $9.70 and a 1-year high of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

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 $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PTEN. Bank of America dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total value of $2,204,254.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,473,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,011,093.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.30% 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.