PTEN vs PDS vs HP Stock Comparison

Patterson Uti Energy, Precision Drilling 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.

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

Percentile Scorecard

PTENPDSHP

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

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

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

Risk

MeasurePTENPDSHPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 50.3%39.0%42.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.3%40.9%42.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.340.140.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.711.681.31 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -73.9%-55.5%-71.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.1%-2.0%-16.7% -1.2%
52-week high $13.15$101.96$47.64 $779.14
52-week low $5.41$56.91$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.

MultiplePTENPDSHP
P/E now vs peer median -51.7xmedian 26.1x -57.1xmedian 26.1x -29.0xmedian 26.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.3x 0.9xmedian 1.3x 1.0xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 6.8xmedian 8.8x 2.9xmedian 8.8x 6.8xmedian 8.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.2xmedian 14.9x 2.5xmedian 14.9x 12.6xmedian 14.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.7x 1.1xmedian 1.7x 1.5xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.79median 0.49 1.89median 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 monthsPTENPDSHP
Revenue $4.67B $1.39B $4.00B
Gross profit $1.11B $429.47M $1.27B
Operating income -$49.57M $336.65M $89.92M
Net income -$89.62M -$22.36M -$130.00M
Free cash flow $177.73M $508.21M $315.29M
R&D – – $27.14M
EPS (diluted) $-0.24 $-1.75 $-1.37
Cash & equivalents $203.17M $46.65M $204.43M
Total debt $1.23B $1.91B $1.86B
Shares (diluted) 380.19M 13.34M 100.03M
Enterprise value $3.52B $1.13B $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
MetricPTENPDSHP
P/E -51.7x -57.1x -29.0x
P/FCF 26.2x 2.5x 12.6x
P/Operating cash flow 6.4x 4.4x 6.8x
P/S 1.0x 0.9x 1.0x
P/B 1.5x 1.1x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 1.1x 1.8x
EV/EBITDA 6.8x 2.9x 6.8x
EV/EBIT -114.7x 5.0x 62.2x
EV/Revenue 1.2x 1.2x 1.4x
EV/FCF 32.0x 3.3x 17.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.8x 5.7x 9.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.79 1.89 0.88

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

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

Shareholder Returns

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

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

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPTENPDSHP
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.

PTENPDSHP
PTEN 1.00 0.70 0.76
PDS 0.70 1.00 0.66
HP 0.76 0.66 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PTEN, PDS and HP?

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

Which company is growing faster?

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

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) returned the most: Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) +86.1%, Precision Drilling (PDS) +65.7%, Helmerich & Payne (HP) +56.3%. Over five years, Precision Drilling (PDS) compounded fastest (Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) +6.1%/yr, Precision Drilling (PDS) +17.2%/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: Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) 3.11%, Precision Drilling (PDS) 0.00%, 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 (Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) 50.3%, Precision Drilling (PDS) 39.0%, Helmerich & Payne (HP) 42.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PTEN, PDS 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.