Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $19.82 and last traded at $19.82, with a volume of 21057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Patterson Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.30.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.29.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 2.58%. Patterson Companies’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Patterson Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 16th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.27%. Patterson Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Patterson Companies by 1,802.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 67,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,870,000 after acquiring an additional 64,061 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 9.7% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 94,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,518,000 after purchasing an additional 8,325 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,018,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,003,000 after buying an additional 730,819 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 942.8% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 207,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,727,000 after buying an additional 187,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Patterson Companies by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the period. 85.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Patterson Companies

Patterson Companies, Inc engages in the distribution of dental and animal health products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The company operates through three segments: Dental, Animal Health, and Corporate segments. The Dental segment offers consumable products, including infection control, restorative materials, and instruments; basic and advanced technology and dental equipment; practice optimization solutions, such as practice management software, e-commerce, revenue cycle management, patient engagement solutions, and clinical and patient education systems.