Patterson-UTI Energy Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 20,083 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 95% compared to the typical volume of 10,284 call options.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTEN traded up $0.19 during trading on Monday, hitting $7.61. The company had a trading volume of 11,018,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,175,509. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.48 and a beta of 2.12. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 52 week low of $7.38 and a 52 week high of $13.10. The business's 50-day moving average is $8.21 and its 200 day moving average is $9.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Patterson-UTI Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently -14.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PTEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, ATB Capital decreased their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $11.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTEN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,595,620 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $556,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,020 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $152,265,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 6,069,499 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $62,880,000 after purchasing an additional 778,581 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 62.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,683,096 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $58,877,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,330 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,167,871 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $39,535,000 after buying an additional 559,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% 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.