Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Coverage Initiated at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) in a research report released on Friday morning. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on LBRT. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upgraded Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup downgraded Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.50.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 1.0 %

Liberty Energy stock opened at $18.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 1.71. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $16.57 and a 52 week high of $24.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $395,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,638,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,169,333.01. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $86,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 725,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,480,812.47. This trade represents a 0.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 92,973 shares of company stock valued at $1,746,285. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,115,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,119 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 15.9% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,012,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,866,000 after buying an additional 963,068 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,662,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,193,000 after buying an additional 176,887 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 20.4% during the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,124,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,408,000 after acquiring an additional 699,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 17.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,754,000 after purchasing an additional 594,051 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is 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.