Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.78.

LBRT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT stock opened at $20.59 on Monday. Liberty Energy has a 1 year low of $15.64 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 7.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.59.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 22.85% and a net margin of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total transaction of $325,333.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 789,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,439,076.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total value of $405,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,758,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,893,551.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,626 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total transaction of $325,333.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 789,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,439,076.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,280,831. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Maven Securities LTD purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at $251,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 3,132 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 90,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 10,766 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 28.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 4,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc provides hydraulic services and related technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration, and production companies in North America. The company offers hydraulic fracturing services, including complementary services, such as wireline services, proppant delivery solutions, field gas processing and treating, compressed natural gas (CNG) delivery, data analytics, related goods comprising sand mine operations, and technologies; and well site fueling and logistics.