Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Shares Climb 5.2% – Still a Buy?

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) was up 5.2% during trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $11.97 and last traded at $11.9320. 511,385 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 9,477,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PTEN. Zacks Research cut shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.14.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 6.0%

The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of -52.37 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.10.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -173.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Seth Wexler sold 120,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.75, for a total transaction of $1,530,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 404,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,158,420.50. The trade was a 22.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. sold 250,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.91, for a total value of $2,977,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,042,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,325,865.34. This represents a 10.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,027,000 shares of company stock worth $12,698,780. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTEN. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 5.6% during the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 106,418 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,662 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $60,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $115,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 24.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,939 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 3,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,096 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares during the period. 97.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc is an oilfield services company that provides drilling, completion and production-related services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Its operations are primarily focused on onshore oil and gas development in the United States.

The company provides contract land drilling services through a fleet of rigs, as well as directional drilling and related technologies used to guide wellbores. Patterson-UTI also offers pressure pumping and hydraulic fracturing, wireline, well-completion, equipment rental and other services that support the development and maintenance of unconventional wells.

Patterson-UTI expanded its completion-services business through its 2023 merger with NexTier Oilfield Solutions.