Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Trading Down 3.9% on Insider Selling

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)’s stock price was down 3.9% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $17.60 and last traded at $17.61. Approximately 220,756 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 2,507,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.33.

Specifically, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total value of $291,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,562,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,720,080.99. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.49, for a total transaction of $184,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 705,207 shares in the company, valued at $13,039,277.43. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LBRT shares. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Five 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.89.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 5.9 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Andina Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 18,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 69.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 838 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.