PDS vs PTEN vs HP Stock Comparison

Precision Drilling, Patterson Uti Energy and Helmerich & Payne Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HP Helmerich & Payne, Inc.
$39.69 +2.9% 1M +56.3% 1Y
Market cap
$3.97B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$4.00B
Div. yield
2.52%
Land Drilling Energy
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

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

QuestionPDSPTENHPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.29B $4.66B $3.97B PTEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -57.1x -51.7x -29.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.6x — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.0% -6.9% +16.6% HP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -1.7% -1.9% -3.4% PDS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 0.0% -0.9% 2.0% HP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 1.2x 2.0x PDS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 3.11% 2.52% PTEN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +65.7% +86.1% +56.3% PTEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +17.2%/yr +6.1%/yr +4.3%/yr PDS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 39.0% 50.3% 42.8% PDS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 53/100 42/100 PTEN

Percentile Scorecard

PDSPTENHP

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

AxisPDSPTENHP
Valuation 96 #3 of 47 61 #19 of 47 70 #15 of 47
Growth 24 #33 of 43 43 #25 of 43 41 #26 of 43
Profitability 67 #14 of 40 23 #31 of 40 26 #30 of 40
Financial Health 66 #16 of 45 46 #25 of 45 32 #31 of 45
Shareholder Returns 10 #29 of 32 94 #3 of 32 42 #19 of 32
Overall 52 53 42
  • PDS ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • PTEN ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • HP 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

PeriodPDSPTENHPSPY
1 month +22.2%+11.9%+2.9% -0.2%
3 months +27.6%+33.2%+19.8% +3.9%
6 months +1.1%+3.3%+1.0% +8.2%
Year to date +39.0%+99.8%+38.4% +12.9%
1 year +65.7%+86.1%+56.3% +12.3%
3 years +72.8%-6.1%+0.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +20.0%-2.1%+0.2% +23.3%
5 years +120.8%+34.3%+23.5% +67.9%
5 years, per year +17.2%+6.1%+4.3% +10.9%
10 years +4.9%-47.7%-38.1% +261.1%
10 years, per year +0.5%-6.3%-4.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasurePDSPTENHPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 39.0%50.3%42.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 40.9%51.3%42.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.14-0.340.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.681.711.31 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.5%-73.9%-71.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.0%-7.1%-16.7% -1.2%
52-week high $101.96$13.15$47.64 $779.14
52-week low $56.91$5.41$25.32 $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.

MultiplePDSPTENHP
P/E now vs peer median -57.1xmedian 26.1x -51.7xmedian 26.1x -29.0xmedian 26.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.3x 1.0xmedian 1.3x 1.0xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 8.8x 6.8xmedian 8.8x 6.8xmedian 8.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 14.9x 26.2xmedian 14.9x 12.6xmedian 14.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 1.7x 1.5xmedian 1.7x 1.5xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.89median 0.49 1.79median 0.49 0.88median 0.49

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 monthsPDSPTENHP
Revenue $1.39B $4.67B $4.00B
Gross profit $429.47M $1.11B $1.27B
Operating income $336.65M -$49.57M $89.92M
Net income -$22.36M -$89.62M -$130.00M
Free cash flow $508.21M $177.73M $315.29M
R&D – – $27.14M
EPS (diluted) $-1.75 $-0.24 $-1.37
Cash & equivalents $46.65M $203.17M $204.43M
Total debt $1.91B $1.23B $1.86B
Shares (diluted) 13.34M 380.19M 100.03M
Enterprise value $1.13B $3.52B $3.14B

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
MetricPDSPTENHP
P/E -57.1x -51.7x -29.0x
P/FCF 2.5x 26.2x 12.6x
P/Operating cash flow 4.4x 6.4x 6.8x
P/S 0.9x 1.0x 1.0x
P/B 1.1x 1.5x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 1.1x 2.0x 1.8x
EV/EBITDA 2.9x 6.8x 6.8x
EV/EBIT 5.0x -114.7x 62.2x
EV/Revenue 1.2x 1.2x 1.4x
EV/FCF 3.3x 32.0x 17.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 5.7x 7.8x 9.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.89 1.79 0.88

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPDSPTENHP
Debt / assets 23.0% 23.0% 29.6%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.4x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 1.2x 2.0x
Debt / FCF 0.9x 6.9x 5.9x
Liabilities / assets 41.1% 42.2% 57.5%
Equity / assets 58.9% 57.8% 42.5%
Interest coverage 9.1x -0.7x 0.9x
Current ratio 1.5x 1.7x 2.0x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.4x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 1.90 1.84 2.04

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPDSPTENHP
Dividend yield – 3.1% 2.5%
Net buyback yield -2.6% 0.9% –
Shareholder yield -2.6% 4.0% 2.5%
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.

ConsensusPDSPTENHP
Forward P/E 19.6xFY2026 – –
EPS, next fiscal year $5.11FY2026 $0.00FY2026 $-0.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5,010.0%FY2026 – -142.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +69.3% – –
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.57BFY2026 $4.72BFY2026 $4.22BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +17.1%FY2026 -2.4%FY2026 +12.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.1% +5.1% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

PDSPTENHP
PDS 1.00 0.70 0.66
PTEN 0.70 1.00 0.76
HP 0.66 0.76 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PDS, PTEN and HP?

Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Precision Drilling (PDS) $1.29B, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) $4.66B, Helmerich & Payne (HP) $3.97B.

Which company is growing faster?

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

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) returned the most: Precision Drilling (PDS) +65.7%, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) +86.1%, Helmerich & Payne (HP) +56.3%. Over five years, Precision Drilling (PDS) compounded fastest (Precision Drilling (PDS) +17.2%/yr, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) +6.1%/yr, Helmerich & Payne (HP) +4.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) has the highest dividend yield: Precision Drilling (PDS) 0.00%, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) 3.11%, Helmerich & Payne (HP) 2.52%. Precision Drilling (PDS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Precision Drilling (PDS) has been the steadiest (Precision Drilling (PDS) 39.0%, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) 50.3%, Helmerich & Payne (HP) 42.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) 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.