Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Sets New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $24.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Patterson Companies traded as low as $21.56 and last traded at $21.57, with a volume of 140855 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.93.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PDCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Patterson Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.40.

Insider Activity at Patterson Companies

In related news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 7,216 shares of Patterson Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $180,327.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,749,499.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 7,216 shares of Patterson Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $180,327.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 230,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,749,499.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevin Michael Barry sold 1,216 shares of Patterson Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.72, for a total transaction of $28,843.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $986,870.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,149 shares of company stock worth $415,851. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Patterson Companies by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,018,184 shares of the company's stock worth $277,003,000 after buying an additional 730,819 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,915,315 shares of the company's stock worth $94,436,000 after purchasing an additional 23,344 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,370,075 shares of the company's stock worth $65,533,000 after purchasing an additional 82,522 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,925,898 shares of the company's stock worth $46,453,000 after purchasing an additional 133,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp bought a new stake in shares of Patterson Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,935,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.43% of the company's stock.

Patterson Companies Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $24.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.34. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Patterson Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.00%.

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.