Natixis Makes New Investment in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Natixis acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 51,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $617,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $44,911,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the 4th quarter worth $44,872,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,041,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $486,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,468 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 3,431,648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,062,000 after purchasing an additional 747,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.7% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,303,828 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $87,208,000 after buying an additional 703,536 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 150,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.55, for a total transaction of $1,732,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,007,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,191,187.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PTEN. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.95.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

PTEN traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 831,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,864,970. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 2.19. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.51 and a twelve month high of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 7.13%. Research analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

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.