HP vs PTEN vs PDS Stock Comparison

Helmerich & Payne, Patterson Uti Energy and Precision Drilling Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HP Helmerich & Payne, Inc.
$39.82 +3.2% 1M +55.3% 1Y
Market cap
$3.98B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$4.00B
Div. yield
0.03%
Land Drilling Energy
2 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Precision Drilling leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Precision Drilling 4, Patterson Uti Energy 3, Helmerich & Payne 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHPPTENPDSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.98B $4.66B $1.32B PTEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -29.0x -51.9x -56.6x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 19.4x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +16.6% -6.9% +5.0% HP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.4% -1.9% -1.7% PDS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.0% -0.9% 0.0% HP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.0x 1.2x 0.7x PDS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +55.3% +84.8% +66.3% PTEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.6%/yr +6.2%/yr +17.2%/yr PDS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.9% 50.4% 39.1% PDS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 38/100 52/100 51/100 PTEN

Percentile Scorecard

HPPTENPDS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisHPPTENPDS
Valuation 67 #16 of 47 59 #20 of 47 96 #3 of 47
Growth 40 #27 of 44 42 #26 of 44 23 #34 of 44
Profitability 25 #31 of 41 23 #32 of 41 63 #16 of 41
Financial Health 31 #32 of 46 44 #26 of 46 64 #17 of 46
Shareholder Returns 29 #23 of 32 90 #4 of 32 10 #29 of 32
Overall 38 52 51
  • HP ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • PTEN ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • PDS ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodHPPTENPDSSPY
1 month +3.2%+12.3%+21.1% -0.8%
3 months +18.4%+30.2%+23.6% +3.5%
6 months +3.0%+6.9%+2.5% +7.0%
Year to date +38.8%+100.5%+37.8% +12.2%
1 year +55.3%+84.8%+66.3% +13.0%
3 years +0.9%-5.8%+71.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +0.3%-2.0%+19.7% +23.1%
5 years +25.3%+34.8%+121.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year +4.6%+6.2%+17.2% +11.0%
10 years -38.6%-47.6%+5.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year -4.8%-6.3%+0.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureHPPTENPDSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.9%50.4%39.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.1%51.6%40.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.19-0.340.14 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.291.681.70 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -71.9%-73.9%-55.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.4%-6.8%-2.9% -1.8%
52-week high $47.64$13.15$101.96 $779.14
52-week low $25.32$5.41$56.91 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleHPPTENPDS
P/E now vs peer median -29.0xmedian 25.5x -51.9xmedian 25.5x -56.5xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.2x 1.0xmedian 1.2x 0.9xmedian 1.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 6.8xmedian 8.6x 6.8xmedian 8.6x 2.9xmedian 8.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.6xmedian 14.7x 26.3xmedian 14.7x 2.5xmedian 14.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.6x 1.5xmedian 1.6x 1.1xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.88median 0.41 1.79median 0.41 1.88median 0.41

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsHPPTENPDS
Revenue $4.00B $4.67B $1.39B
Gross profit $1.27B $1.11B $429.47M
Operating income $89.92M -$49.57M $336.65M
Net income -$130.00M -$89.62M -$22.36M
Free cash flow $315.29M $177.73M $508.21M
R&D $27.14M – –
EPS (diluted) $-1.37 $-0.24 $-1.75
Cash & equivalents $204.43M $203.17M $46.65M
Total debt $1.86B $1.23B $1.91B
Shares (diluted) 100.03M 380.19M 13.34M
Enterprise value $3.06B $3.51B $1.16B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricHPPTENPDS
P/E -29.0x -51.9x -56.5x
P/FCF 12.6x 26.3x 2.5x
P/Operating cash flow 6.9x 6.4x 4.3x
P/S 1.0x 1.0x 0.9x
P/B 1.5x 1.5x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 1.8x 2.0x 1.1x
EV/EBITDA 6.8x 6.8x 2.9x
EV/EBIT 62.4x -115.1x 5.0x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 1.2x 1.2x
EV/FCF 17.8x 32.1x 3.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 9.7x 7.8x 5.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.88 1.79 1.88

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHPPTENPDS
Revenue growth (1Y) 16.6% -6.9% 5.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.0% 15.1% -1.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.7% -11.7% -3.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 1.9% -6.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -20.0% 95.2% -7.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -45.2% -28.4% -6.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -340.3% 91.7% -129.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -32.4% -31.2% -29.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -341.3% 91.6% -133.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -32.9% -28.9% -30.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 14.8% -23.6% -8.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.7% -5.8% -0.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 762.7% -46.6% 2.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -5.9% -22.6% 3.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHPPTENPDS
Gross margin 31.8% 23.8% 30.9%
EBITDA margin 20.7% 17.8% 41.7%
Operating margin 2.3% -1.1% 24.2%
Pretax margin -1.0% -2.4% 0.7%
Net margin -3.4% -1.9% -1.7%
FCF margin 7.9% 3.8% 36.6%
Operating cash flow margin 14.5% 15.7% 21.4%
Return on equity -4.8% -2.9% -1.9%
Return on assets -2.0% -1.7% -1.1%
Return on invested capital 2.0% -0.9% 0.0%
Return on capital employed 1.6% -1.1% 19.6%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.9x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -4.5x -8.2x -13.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHPPTENPDS
Debt / assets 29.6% 23.0% 23.0%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.4x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.0x 1.2x 0.7x
Debt / FCF 5.9x 6.9x 0.9x
Liabilities / assets 57.5% 42.2% 41.1%
Equity / assets 42.5% 57.8% 58.9%
Interest coverage 0.9x -0.7x 9.1x
Current ratio 2.0x 1.7x 1.5x
Quick ratio 1.4x 1.4x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.04 1.85 1.89

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHPPTENPDS
Dividend yield 2.5% 3.1% –
Net buyback yield – 0.9% -2.6%
Shareholder yield 2.5% 4.0% -2.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) -77.9% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 32.1% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -13.9% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -17.3% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusHPPTENPDS
Forward P/E – – 19.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.40FY2026 $0.00FY2026 $5.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -142.6%FY2026 – +5,010.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +69.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.22BFY2026 $4.72BFY2026 $1.57BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.6%FY2026 -2.4%FY2026 +17.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +5.1% +2.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHPPTENPDS
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 64.3%
Institutions holding 374 435 134
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.3% +1.0% +7.6%
Institutions buying 175 258 64
Institutions selling 125 111 49
Buyers to sellers 1.40 2.32 1.31

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

HPPTENPDS
HP 1.00 0.76 0.66
PTEN 0.76 1.00 0.71
PDS 0.66 0.71 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HP, PTEN and PDS?

Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Helmerich & Payne (HP) $3.98B, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) $4.66B, Precision Drilling (PDS) $1.32B.

Which company is growing faster?

Helmerich & Payne (HP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Helmerich & Payne (HP) +16.6%, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) -6.9%, Precision Drilling (PDS) +5.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Precision Drilling (PDS) has the highest net margin (Helmerich & Payne (HP) -3.4%, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) -1.9%, Precision Drilling (PDS) -1.7%). On return on invested capital, Helmerich & Payne (HP) leads (Helmerich & Payne (HP) 2.0%, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) -0.9%, Precision Drilling (PDS) 0.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) returned the most: Helmerich & Payne (HP) +55.3%, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) +84.8%, Precision Drilling (PDS) +66.3%. Over five years, Precision Drilling (PDS) compounded fastest (Helmerich & Payne (HP) +4.6%/yr, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) +6.2%/yr, Precision Drilling (PDS) +17.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Helmerich & Payne (HP) 0.03%, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) 0.00%, Precision Drilling (PDS) 0.00%. Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) and Precision Drilling (PDS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Precision Drilling (PDS) has been the steadiest (Helmerich & Payne (HP) 42.9%, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) 50.4%, Precision Drilling (PDS) 39.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HP, PTEN and PDS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Precision Drilling (PDS) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.