Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Price Target Raised to $22.00 at Citigroup

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on LBRT. Barclays cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.60.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE LBRT opened at $21.67 on Tuesday. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $16.57 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued 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). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The company 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 posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 15.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.45, for a total value of $92,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 720,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,287,819.15. This represents a 0.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,936 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 have sold 77,973 shares of company stock worth $1,471,335. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning increased its position in Liberty Energy by 3.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 19,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Liberty Energy by 96.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in Liberty Energy by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 16,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.