Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Sets New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $13.51 and last traded at $13.53, with a volume of 1661012 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Atb Cap Markets raised Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.90.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02 and a beta of 1.58.

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

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total transaction of $179,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 717,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,868,218.48. The trade was a 1.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Palogic Value Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,492,000. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $728,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,365,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 338,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,739,000 after buying an additional 17,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth $312,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.