Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.50.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LBRT opened at $20.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 1.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.32 and a 200-day moving average of $19.64. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $16.57 and a one year high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Liberty Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 12,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.44, for a total transaction of $209,280.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,606,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,462,818.72. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,973 shares of company stock valued at $1,471,335 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 96.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 237.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 82.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 93.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 974 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.