Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) traded down 2.6% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $19.27 and last traded at $19.32. 59,612 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 98% from the average session volume of 2,497,049 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on LBRT shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective 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. TD Cowen cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.78.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.68.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Liberty Energy’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 10.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total value of $405,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,758,813 shares in the company, valued at $55,893,551.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 4,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total transaction of $91,897.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 785,207 shares in the company, valued at $16,497,199.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total transaction of $405,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,758,813 shares in the company, valued at $55,893,551.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 100,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,084,231. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LBRT. Clifford Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 649,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,573,000 after acquiring an additional 103,855 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the second quarter worth about $642,000. Maven Securities LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the second quarter valued at about $251,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted 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 buying an additional 3,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 90,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after buying an additional 10,766 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.