Sectors & IndustriesEnergyOil & Gas Drilling

Best Oil & Gas Drilling Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top oil & gas drilling stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best oil & gas drilling stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best oil & gas drilling stocks to buy right now are:

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) is the #1 top oil & gas drilling stock out of 9 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: A, Sentiment: D, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) has a Due Diligence Score of 19, which is -3 points lower than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 22.

PDS passed 6 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Precision Drilling has seen its stock return 111.07% over the past year, overperforming other oil & gas drilling stocks by 36 percentage points.

Precision Drilling has an average 1 year price target of $122.33, an upside of 24.32% from Precision Drilling's current stock price of $98.40.

Precision Drilling stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Precision Drilling, 66.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 33.33% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Patterson Uti Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) is the #2 top oil & gas drilling stock out of 9 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Patterson Uti Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) is: Value: D, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Patterson Uti Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) has a Due Diligence Score of 26, which is 4 points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 22.

PTEN passed 9 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Patterson Uti Energy has seen its stock return 31.75% over the past year, underperforming other oil & gas drilling stocks by -44 percentage points.

Patterson Uti Energy has an average 1 year price target of $8.43, a downside of -22.17% from Patterson Uti Energy's current stock price of $10.83.

Patterson Uti Energy stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 7 analysts covering Patterson Uti Energy, 28.57% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 14.29% have issued a Buy, 42.86% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 14.29% have issued a Strong Sell.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) is the #3 top oil & gas drilling stock out of 9 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Transocean (NYSE:RIG) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: F, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) has a Due Diligence Score of 10, which is -12 points lower than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 22.

RIG passed 3 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Transocean has seen its stock return 109.15% over the past year, overperforming other oil & gas drilling stocks by 34 percentage points.

Transocean has an average 1 year price target of $6.60, a downside of -0.45% from Transocean's current stock price of $6.63.

Transocean stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Transocean, 40% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 60% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 3 oil & gas drilling stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 oil & gas drilling stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Noble (NYSE:NE) has an annual dividend yield of 4.08%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 3.33%.

Noble's dividend payout ratio of 147.1% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Patterson Uti Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) has an annual dividend yield of 3.14%, which is the same as the oil & gas drilling industry average of 3.33%. Patterson Uti Energy's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Patterson Uti Energy's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Patterson Uti Energy's dividend payout ratio of -133.3% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) has an annual dividend yield of 2.78%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 3.33%. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Helmerich & Payne's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio of -31.3% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Oil & gas drilling stocks were down -0.54% in the last day, and down -1.32% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why oil & gas drilling stocks are down.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued oil & gas drilling stocks right now are:

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) is the most undervalued oil & gas drilling stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Precision Drilling has a valuation score of 14, which is 0 points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 14. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Precision Drilling's stock has gained 111.07% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the oil & gas drilling industry by 36 percentage points.

Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) is the second most undervalued oil & gas drilling stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Nabors Industries has a valuation score of 29, which is 15 points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 14. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nabors Industries's stock has gained 106.33% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the oil & gas drilling industry by 31 percentage points.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) is the third most undervalued oil & gas drilling stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Transocean has a valuation score of 14, which is 0 points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 14. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Transocean's stock has gained 109.15% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the oil & gas drilling industry by 34 percentage points.

44.44% of oil & gas drilling stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect oil & gas drilling stocks to rise by 4.21% over the next year.

0% of oil & gas drilling stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 0% of oil & gas drilling stocks are rated B (Buy), 66.67% are rated C (Hold), 22.22% are rated D (Sell), and 11.11% are rated F (Strong Sell).