Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Downgraded by Atb Cap Markets

Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.70.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Liberty Energy stock opened at $17.70 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $20.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.31. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.68. Liberty Energy has a fifty-two week low of $16.69 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 22.85%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 11.68%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.92, for a total transaction of $458,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 765,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,538,544.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,000 shares of company stock worth $1,945,650. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 15.6% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 209,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 28,153 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 114.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 174,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,611,000 after buying an additional 92,923 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 14.1% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,338,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,732,000 after buying an additional 165,400 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 60.2% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,437,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,775,000 after buying an additional 539,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the first quarter worth $690,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.