Short Interest in Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) Rises By 17.1%

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,360,000 shares, an increase of 17.1% from the October 15th total of 2,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 849,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Patterson Companies Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of PDCO stock traded up $0.18 on Friday, hitting $19.75. 769,318 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 825,478. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.02. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $21.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.23. Patterson Companies has a one year low of $19.45 and a one year high of $32.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Patterson Companies will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Patterson Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 16th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. Patterson Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Patterson Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $535,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 64,061 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 91,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,540,000 after purchasing an additional 23,941 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 177.7% during the second quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 73,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,773,000 after buying an additional 47,032 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 730,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on PDCO. Bank of America dropped their target price on Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group cut their target price on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.30.

About Patterson Companies

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.

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