Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.50.

A number of brokerages recently commented on LBRT. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Atb Cap Markets upgraded Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total transaction of $416,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 680,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,161,909.74. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,936 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $56,253.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,543,877 shares in the company, valued at $48,740,683.32. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,973 shares of company stock worth $1,471,335. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its position in Liberty Energy by 17.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,115,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640,119 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193,918 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,012,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,866,000 after purchasing an additional 963,068 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,124,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,408,000 after purchasing an additional 699,500 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 17.6% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LBRT opened at $20.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Liberty Energy has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $24.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.64.

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

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.08 dividend. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

About Liberty Energy

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.