UPDATE: Wunderlich Securities Reiterates On Patterson-UTI Energy On Strong Demand For High Spec Rigs And Completion Work

In a report published Tuesday, Wunderlich Securities analyst Jason A. Wangler reiterated a Hold rating on

, and raised the price target from $34.00 to $37.00. In the report, Wunderlich Securities noted, “Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) announced a strong 2Q14 as EPS of $0.37 easily beat our $0.27 expectation and the Street's $0.32. Revenues were well ahead of expectations (by about 5% to $757 million) as the trends in the oilfield toward high-spec drilling rigs and completion equipment not only continue but seemingly grow even stronger. This plays nicely into PTEN's hand given its 133 rig APEX fleet that makes up the majority of its 207 rigs currently. Further, with PTEN's plans for expansion of both the drilling and pressure pumping fleets we expect further growth as the high-spec movement continues. Despite this, we feel PTEN's strong growth potential is being relatively fairly valued at this time. We reiterate our Hold rating and $37 price target.” Patterson-UTI Energy closed on Monday at $37.45.