Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Declares $0.08 Quarterly Dividend

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the oil and gas company on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

Patterson-UTI Energy has raised its dividend by an average of 58.7% per year over the last three years. Patterson-UTI Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 213.3% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Patterson-UTI Energy to earn ($0.17) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -188.2%.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

PTEN remained flat at $8.38 during trading on Thursday. The company had a trading volume of 16,495,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,013,077. Patterson-UTI Energy has a twelve month low of $7.15 and a twelve month high of $12.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 2.06.

Insider Transactions at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total value of $588,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $238,743.68. The trade was a 71.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PTEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.63.

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.