Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Short Interest Down 16.5% in February

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 12,430,000 shares, a decline of 16.5% from the February 13th total of 14,890,000 shares. Approximately 8.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

LBRT stock traded up $0.04 on Wednesday, reaching $14.66. 2,941,234 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,518,268. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $18.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.72. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $13.86 and a one year high of $24.75. The company has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.84 and a beta of 1.58.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. Research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.30.

Insider Activity

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 717,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,868,218.48. The trade was a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $808,350. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 20.0% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 94,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 15,810 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $619,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 620,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,854,000 after acquiring an additional 6,278 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 24.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 17.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 24,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 3,733 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is 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.