Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.89.

LBRT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $105,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 745,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,656,799.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $395,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,638,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,169,333.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,000 shares of company stock worth $1,945,650. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 14.1% during the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,338,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,732,000 after purchasing an additional 165,400 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 20,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy in the first quarter valued at about $348,000. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $253,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $17.91 on Tuesday. Liberty Energy has a 1 year low of $16.69 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.14. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

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.