Jefferies Favorite Land Drillers (PTEN, PDC, NBR)

Jefferies is out with its "Drilling Report" today and names its favorite land drillers. In a note to clients, Jefferies writes, "Similar to 3Q earnings season, we expect another round of solid EPS beats and upward revisions to 2011 EPS estimates for the land drillers as Consensus estimates are adjusted for higher rig count expectations, better margins/rig day, and near-term pressure pumping pricing and margins. Although we acknowledge that companies with pressure pumping assets will be fighting an uphill battle all year in terms of sentiment, we believe the underlying strength of the land rig market market justifies higher valuations for the group. Our favorite land drillers remain Patterson-UTI Energy PTEN, Pioneer Drilling Company PDC, and Nabors Industries NBR. Shares of PTEN are trading today at $20.93, up 0.87% from yesterday's close. Shares of PDC are trading today at $8.31, down 0.12% from yesterday's close. Shares of NBR are trading today at $22.58, up 1.48% from yesterday's close.