Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Announces Earnings Results

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The oil and gas company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02), Zacks reports. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative net margin of 14.73% and a positive return on equity of 3.60%.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Up 2.1 %

PTEN stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.38. The company had a trading volume of 13,579,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,686,963. The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.26 and a 200 day moving average of $8.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 2.07. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 52 week low of $7.15 and a 52 week high of $12.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 32,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $238,743.68. This represents a 71.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

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.