Which Is a Better Investment, Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. or Valaris Ltd Stock?

By AAII Staff
September 03, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Energy Equipment & Services industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc.

Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Gulf of America, Australia, Angola, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. The company owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which includes drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, a moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs. It also offers management services on rigs owned by third parties. The company serves international, government-owned, and independent oil and gas companies. Valaris Limited was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides drilling and completion services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States, Canada, Colombia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Drilling Services, Completion Services, and Drilling Products. The Contract Drilling Services segment engages in the provision of contract and directional drilling, and measurement-while-drilling (MWD) services in onshore oil and natural gas basins; supply and rental of downhole performance motors, such as Mpact drilling motors, and Mpower MWD systems; electrical controls and automation to the energy, marine, and mining industries; rig fleet evaluation; and drilling technology service. This segment also provides software and services, such as MWD Survey Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) services, a data analytics technology to analyze MWD survey data in real-time and identify the position of a well; HiFi Nav, which enhances FDIR by targeting improved vertical placement of the directional well within the reservoir; and HiFi Guidance that utilizes trajectory optimization to determine optimal steering recommendations and placement within the reservoir. The Completion Services segment offers services for hydraulic fracturing, wireline and pumping, completion support, equipment, materials, and cementing, as well as involved in the power solutions natural gas fueling, and last mile logistics and storage businesses. The Drilling Products segment engages in the design, manufacture, sale, and rental of matrix and steel-bodied polycrystalline diamond compact drill bits. It also rents oilfield tools; and offers specialized services for land-based oil and natural gas drilling, completion, and workover activities. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Latest Energy Equipment & Services and Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, Valaris Limited had a $6.4 billion market capitalization, compared to the Energy Equipment & Services median of $1.4 million. Valaris Limited’s stock is up 83.7% in 2026, up 8.3% in the previous five trading days and up 88.32% in the past year.

Currently, Valaris Limited’s price-earnings ratio is 6.9. Valaris Limited’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.1 billion with a 44.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -12.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.653 per share for the current fiscal year. Valaris Limited does not currently pay a dividend.

As of September 2, 2026, Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. had a $5.0 billion market cap, putting it in the 67th percentile of all stocks. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.’s stock is up 115.4% in 2026, up 7.3% in the previous five trading days and up 129.09% in the past year.

Currently, Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. does not have a price-earnings ratio. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.7 billion with a -1.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 0.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $-0.021 per share for the current fiscal year. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. currently has a 3.0% dividend yield.

How We Compare Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
Valaris Limited VAL B
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. PTEN B

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Valaris Limited has a Value Score of 68, which is Value. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a Value Score of 65, which is Value.

The Value Stock Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Value Grade breakdown above, both Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc. have a Value Grade of B. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, you will need to conduct further research into both of these companies’ other metrics to see if they could be good additions to your portfolio. It’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
Valaris Limited VAL B
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. PTEN B

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Valaris Limited has a Quality Score of 61, which is Strong. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a Quality Score of 69, which is Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc. have a grade of B. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Valaris Limited VAL A
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. PTEN A

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Valaris Limited has a Momentum Score of 84, which is Very Strong. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 90, which is Very Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Momentum Grade breakdown above, both Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc. have a grade of A. For those who focus solely on a company’s momentum, further research will need to be conducted into both companies to see if they fit your individual needs as an investor.

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Other Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc. Grades

In addition to Quality, Value and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

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Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Valaris Limited stock has a Value Score of 68, Momentum Score of 84 and Quality Score of 61.

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 65, Momentum Score of 90 and Quality Score of 69.

Comparing Valaris Limited, Patterson-UTI Energy and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

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AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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