Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 97,727 Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. $PTEN

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,469,093 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,727 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $28,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PTEN. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 710,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,683,000 after acquiring an additional 9,700 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 48.7% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,735,252 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,989,000 after purchasing an additional 568,319 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 5,992.0% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,391,607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352,349 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the third quarter worth $992,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 30.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 127,659 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 29,815 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PTEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $6.00 price objective (down from $7.00) on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.11.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Up 3.4%

NASDAQ:PTEN opened at $9.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.28 and a beta of 0.71. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $5.10 and a one year high of $9.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.55.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.94%.Patterson-UTI Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.13) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Patterson-UTI Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -160.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 368,254 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.87, for a total value of $2,161,650.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 207,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,215,090. This represents a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy provides a comprehensive suite of onshore contract drilling and pressure pumping services to exploration and production companies in North America. The company’s core offerings include land-based drilling rigs, directional drilling, hydraulic fracturing services, downhole tool rental and well-servicing equipment. By integrating drilling and completion capabilities, Patterson-UTI Energy offers operators a streamlined solution designed to improve operational efficiency and well performance.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Patterson-UTI Energy traces its origins to its founding in 1978 and was later incorporated in Delaware in 1996.