Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

LBRT has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Citigroup raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $21.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $11.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.64.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of LBRT opened at $17.96 on Monday. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.50 and a twelve month high of $23.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.61.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $947.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.05 million. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.69% and a net margin of 4.76%.The business’s revenue was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 213.7% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the second quarter worth $48,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.