Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.06), Briefing.com reports. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 32.28%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

LBRT opened at $21.52 on Thursday. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $11.62 and a twelve month high of $23.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.85.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 218,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,479,865. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ryan T. Gosney sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 140,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,884,473. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 218,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,479,865. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,077,491 over the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 13,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 129.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,089,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,971,000 after buying an additional 1,178,716 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 2,607 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 775.0% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 219,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after buying an additional 194,767 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 106.8% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 49,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 25,424 shares during the period. 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.