Posts for Ticker ‘PTEN’

Goldman Sachs Mixes Calls in Oil and Utilities (RIG, PTEN, HAL, OIS, NBR, DO, FTI, WR, NRG, NVE)

Oil Well ImageGoldman Sachs has made several key upgrades and downgrades this morning in the utility sector and in the oil patch.  While the utility sector was raised to attractive, some of the other calls seem more mixed on the surface in the oil patch.

Transocean (NYSE: RIG) was one of the few real upgrades as shares were raised to Buy from Neutral.  Patterson-UTI (NASDAQ: PTEN) and Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) were cut to Neutral, while Oil States International (NYSE: OIS) was cut to Sell.  Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR) was cut to Sell from Neutral.  Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) and FMC Technologies (NYSE: FTI) were both upgraded, but only to Neutral from Sell.

Westar Energy (NYSE: WR) and NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) were both raised to Buy, while NV Energy (NYSE: NVE) was cut to Neutral.

Jon C. Ogg
June 25, 2009

Posted on: June 25, 2009 – 7:22 am in Analyst Calls, Oil & Gas, Utilities, , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AZN, BAS, BRNC, BCS, DB, PCS, MYL, PTEN, PDC, WSH)

These are the top 10 early bird analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen in Wall Street research calls early this Thursday morning with over two hours until the market opens:

AstraZeneca (AZN) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Basic Energy Services (BAS) Cut to Sell at UBS.
Bronco Drilling (BRNC) Cut to Sell at UBS.
Barclays (BCS) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Deutsche Bank (DB) Raised to Overweight at MOrgan Stanley.
MetroPCS (PCS) remains Sell at Auriga.
Mylan Labs (MYL) Cut to Underperform at Bernstein.
Patterson-UTI (PTEN) Cut to Sell at UBS.
Pioneed Drilling (PDC) Cut to Sell at UBS.
Willis Group (WSH) Started as Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: May 14, 2009 – 6:24 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Downgrades (APOG, BJS, BJ, HAL, KEG, NBR, OMC, PTEN, PCG, SLB, WMT)

burning-money-pic15These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades and negative calls we have seen early this Tuesday morning:

  • Apogee (APOG) Cut to Sell at Piper Jaffray.
  • BJ Services (BJS) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
  • BJ’s Wholesale (BJ) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Halliburton (HAL) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
  • Key Energy (KEG) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
  • Nabors (NBR) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
  • Omnicom (OMC) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
  • Patterson-UTI (PTEN) Cut to Underperform at RBC.
  • PG&E (PCG) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Schlumberger (SLB) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
  • Wal-Mart (WMT) Cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: March 10, 2009 – 6:41 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AVR, BLL, CE, ETR, HCP, HR, MRK, PTNR, PTEN, UAUA, VSE)

These are not all of the upgrades or positive analyst calls seen this morning but these are some of the top calls seen this Friday morning:

  • Aventine Renewable (NYSE: AVR) Raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  • Ball Corp (NYSE: BLL) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
  • Celanese (NYSE: CE) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Entergy (NYSE: ETR) Raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
  • HCP (NYSE: HCP) Raised To Buy From Neutral By Goldman Sachs.
  • Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR) Started as Outperform at Wachovia.
  • Merck (NYSE: MRK) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
  • Partner Communications (NASDAQ: PTNR) Started as Outperform at RBC Capital.
  • Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • UAL (NASDAQ: UAUA) Raised to Overweight from Underweight at JPMorgan.
  • Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) Raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
July 18, 2008

Posted on: July 18, 2008 – 6:48 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Up & Down the Oil & Energy Patch (CVX, DUK, PTEN, PXD, MUR)

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) reported earnings of $5.17 billion and $2.48 EPS for the first quarter of 2008.  First Call had estimates at $2.41 EPS. This compared with $4.72 billion and $2.18 EPS for the same period a year ago. Revenues jumped to $65.95 billion, up about 38% from $48.23 billion. Analysts were looking for revenues of $75.64 billion and $2.41 EPS. Refining earnings dropped from $1.62 billion to $252 million, due to higher crude oil costs and lower refining margins. It’s a repeat of the same story from all the integrated oil companies. CVX stock is up almost 1% at $95.80 in pre-open trading.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) may be more of an electricity play, but when you look at its break-down you will understand why it’s included in energy stocks this morning.  It is trading up over 3% after earnings of $465 million or $0.35 EPS, compared to $0.30 EPS a year ago and compared to First Call estimates of $0.31. Revenues grew 9% to $3.337 billion, and First Call had estimates at $3.25 billion. 

Even though Duke’s numbers beat the estimates, it took an accounting change to make it happen. Duke changed the way it accounts for the impact of mark-to-market hedges in its Commercial Power segment. Beginning in the 2008 first quarter, the company will exclude its commodity hedging from earnings. Adjusted earnings, compared with the first quarter of 2007, is exactly $0.05/share. So, EPS is flat compared with last year, and 70% of the earnings boost is attributable to this exclusion. The company reiterated its guidance for $1.27 EPS in 2008.

Elsewhere, analysts have made a few calls regarding the oil and energy stocks this morning with calls in Patterson-UTI (NASDAQ: PTEN), Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE: PXD), and Murphy Oil (NYSE: MUR):

  • Patterson-UTI (NASDAQ: PTEN) was raised by Credit Suisse, although the prior "Underperform" rating was raised only to a Neutral.
  • Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE: PXD), in the exploration and production of oil and gas, was also raised to a Buy from a Hold rating over at Deutsche Bank.
  • Murphy Oil (NYSE: MUR) was downgraded this morning over at Bernstein’s research department.  Its prior "Outperform" rating was given a new "Market Perform" rating.

Paul Ausick
May 2, 2008

Posted on: May 2, 2008 – 8:11 am in Oil & Gas, , , , ,

Major March Short Interest Increases (CSCO, LOGI, MCRL, PRXL, PTEN, SPLS, JAVA, TROW, YRCW)

We routinely look over major changes in short interest from period to period.  While the more frequent twice-monthly reporting is conducted by exchanges, it sometimes gives a little insight into the psyche of traders and trends.  The most important issue to look at is in the larger and more active names that have large positions that grew rapidly in percentage terms.

We screened many different names after the short interest data came out last night from NASDAQ, so we looked for a minimum of 5 million shares short and we looked for those names whose short interest grew by more than 30%.  These are not all of the names, but here is a representation of the screen:

Comapny (Ticker)                              MARCH 14     FEB 29       CHANGE
Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO)          73,069,889   48,631,811    50.25%
Logitech International (LOGI)           8,017,620    5,464,404     46.72%
Micrel, Incorporated (MCRL)             7,719,618    5,242,192     47.26%
PAREXEL International (PRXL)        6,204,152    3,137,862     97.72%
Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN)         14,068,305    9,336,158    50.69%
Staples, Inc. (SPLS)                          20,708,717   15,097,693   37.16%
Sun Microsystems (JAVA)                23,630,955   17,562,322   34.55%
T. Rowe Price Group (TROW)         15,997,024   11,341,287   41.05%
YRC Worldwide, Inc. (YRCW)          22,782,135   16,007,172   42.32%

Jon C. Ogg
March 27, 2008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 27, 2008 – 7:57 am in Short Interest, , , , , , , , ,