Royce & Associates LP Invests $6.81 Million in Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO)

Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 311,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,807,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 1,802.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 67,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after acquiring an additional 64,061 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Patterson Companies by 9.7% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 94,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,518,000 after purchasing an additional 8,325 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Patterson Companies by 7.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,018,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,003,000 after purchasing an additional 730,819 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 15.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Patterson Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $535,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Patterson Companies from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Patterson Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.30.

Patterson Companies Price Performance

NASDAQ PDCO opened at $19.75 on Monday. Patterson Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.45 and a 12-month high of $32.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.05 and its 200-day moving average is $23.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.08). Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 2.58%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson Companies Announces Dividend

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

Patterson Companies Company Profile

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.