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

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Atb Cap Markets raised Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:LBRT opened at $21.39 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.67. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $16.57 and a 52 week high of $24.75. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 1.66.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 1.72 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is presently 15.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total value of $36,971.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,578,813 shares in the company, valued at $46,805,455.95. The trade was a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 725,207 shares in the company, valued at $12,480,812.47. The trade was a 0.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,973 shares of company stock valued at $1,471,335 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,115,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640,119 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,012,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,866,000 after acquiring an additional 963,068 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,662,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,193,000 after acquiring an additional 176,887 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,124,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,408,000 after acquiring an additional 699,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 17.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,754,000 after buying an additional 594,051 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.