StockNews.com Lowers Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PDCO. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Patterson Companies from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink started coverage on Patterson Companies in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an outperform rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler lowered Patterson Companies from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Patterson Companies from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday. Seven 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 $31.67.

Patterson Companies Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:PDCO opened at $24.48 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.43. Patterson Companies has a fifty-two week low of $24.42 and a fifty-two week high of $34.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.07.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 2.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. Patterson Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Patterson Companies will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. Patterson Companies’s payout ratio is 51.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 13.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Patterson Companies by 54.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Patterson Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,206,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 27.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 96,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,866,000 after acquiring an additional 21,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 46.2% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 915,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,131,000 after purchasing an additional 289,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.43% of the company’s stock.

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.