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

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.50.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup upgraded Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

NYSE:LBRT opened at $20.01 on Wednesday. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $12.38 and a 52 week high of $24.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.71.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 26.46%. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.22%.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, President Ron Gusek sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $1,149,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,213,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,892,824.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, President Ron Gusek sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $1,149,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,213,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,892,824.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $453,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,858,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,780,725.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 176,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,980,900. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $800,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,777.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 233,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,232,000 after purchasing an additional 220,854 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,241,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,505,000 after purchasing an additional 247,074 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 522.2% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 897,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,275,000 after acquiring an additional 752,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,532,000. 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.