Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Shares Gap Up to $22.85

Shares of Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $22.85, but opened at $24.69. Patterson Companies shares last traded at $25.15, with a volume of 473,390 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PDCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Piper Sandler downgraded Patterson Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Patterson Companies in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Patterson Companies from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Seven 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 an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.67.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.07.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 18th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Patterson Companies had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Patterson Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Patterson Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PDCO. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Patterson Companies by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,594,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,852,000 after purchasing an additional 523,226 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Patterson Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,162,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Patterson Companies by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 561,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,973,000 after acquiring an additional 101,860 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Patterson Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,233,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Patterson Companies by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 867,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,669,000 after purchasing an additional 5,710 shares in the last quarter. 85.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.