Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO)’s share price 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. The stock had previously closed at $21.93.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PDCO. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Patterson Companies from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. dropped their price target on Patterson Companies from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.40.

Insider Activity at Patterson Companies

In other Patterson Companies 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,749,499.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 7,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $180,327.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,749,499.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Les B. Korsh sold 2,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.71, for a total transaction of $67,383.82. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 103,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,460,268.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,149 shares of company stock worth $415,851. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Patterson Companies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PDCO. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of Patterson Companies during the second quarter worth $37,935,000. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 268.5% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,431,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043,201 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Patterson Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,162,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Patterson Companies by 7.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,018,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,003,000 after purchasing an additional 730,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 58.8% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,391,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,559,000 after purchasing an additional 515,299 shares in the last quarter. 85.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Patterson Companies Stock Down 3.9 %

The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $24.42 and its 200-day moving average is $25.34.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 2.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Patterson Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $0.26 dividend. 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%.

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.