Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,690,000 shares, a decline of 14.0% from the December 15th total of 17,080,000 shares. Approximately 9.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Liberty Energy stock traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.67. 3,402,142 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,333,240. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $16.57 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.18 and a 200 day moving average of $19.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 1.66.

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). The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. Liberty Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LBRT has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Atb Cap Markets raised Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Citigroup raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total value of $36,971.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,578,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,805,455.95. This represents a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.45, for a total transaction of $92,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 720,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,287,819.15. This represents a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 82,973 shares of company stock worth $1,586,335. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 96.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 237.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Liberty Energy by 82.1% in the 3rd 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 holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 24.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.