Royal Bank of Canada Downgrades Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) to Sector Perform

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) was downgraded by Royal Bank of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $19.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $24.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 22.19% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LBRT. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.80.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $15.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $17.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.57. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $13.86 and a one year high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 14.28%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total value of $97,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 700,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,661,038.57. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $808,350 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,640,119 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 83.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,828,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,352 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 61.2% in the third 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. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter worth $20,337,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 285.1% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 700,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,379,000 after acquiring an additional 518,830 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.