Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

Several research firms recently weighed in on LBRT. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $115,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 675,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,529,761. The trade was a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total transaction of $36,971.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,578,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,805,455.95. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,973 shares of company stock worth $1,586,335 in the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 495,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after purchasing an additional 154,070 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,061,000 after buying an additional 1,193,918 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 872,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,651,000 after buying an additional 37,927 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 168.2% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 62,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 39,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 89.2% during the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,682,000 after acquiring an additional 165,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of LBRT opened at $20.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 1.66. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $16.57 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued 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 return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. Analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

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.