Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $25.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $20.00.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.90.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 5.1 %

LBRT stock opened at $16.21 on Thursday. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $13.86 and a one year high of $24.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27.

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

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total transaction of $416,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 680,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,161,909.74. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 40,000 shares of company stock worth $808,350 over the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Palogic Value Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,492,000. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $728,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,365,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake 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 worth $6,739,000 after acquiring an additional 17,440 shares during the period. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.