Brokerages Set Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Target Price at $22.20

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.30.

Several brokerages have issued reports on LBRT. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of 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 initiated coverage on Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT opened at $17.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.80 and its 200 day moving average is $19.67. Liberty Energy has a fifty-two week low of $16.57 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $115,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 675,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,529,761. The trade was a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,936 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $56,253.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,543,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,740,683.32. The trade was a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,936 shares of company stock valued at $1,341,184 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LBRT. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Liberty Energy by 45.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 495,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after purchasing an additional 154,070 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193,918 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 872,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,651,000 after purchasing an additional 37,927 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 168.2% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 62,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 39,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 89.2% in the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,682,000 after buying an additional 165,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.