Arjun Murti Purchases 9,696 Shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Director Arjun Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the purchase, the director owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,978.72. The trade was a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:LBRT opened at $26.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.49. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.50 and a 12-month high of $27.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.21. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 1.24%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $880.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LBRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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. Bank of America raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.08.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 23,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.