Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.89.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of Liberty Energy stock opened at $16.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $16.57 and a 12-month high of $24.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.05 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $18.93 and its 200-day moving average is $20.64.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $86,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 725,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,480,812.47. This represents a 0.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total transaction of $36,971.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,578,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,805,455.95. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,911,802 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 196.9% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 37,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Impala Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 89.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,682,000 after purchasing an additional 165,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 197.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 286,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,471,000 after purchasing an additional 190,445 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 29.0% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 80,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 18,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 6.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 122,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,343,000 after buying an additional 7,390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.