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

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LBRT. Seaport Res Ptn raised Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Atb Cap Markets upgraded Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $21.34 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. Liberty Energy has a fifty-two week low of $16.57 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of the 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.44, for a total value of $209,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,606,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,462,818.72. This trade represents a 0.46 % 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 worth $1,471,335 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 96.8% during the third 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. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 82.1% during 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 period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 93.2% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 24.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 974 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.