Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $20.09, but opened at $18.59. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $18.33, with a volume of 785,798 shares traded.

The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 22.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LBRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.92, for a total value of $458,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 765,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,538,544.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,945,650. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 69.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 43.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 8.9 %

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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.36. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.68.

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.