Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Down 6.9% – Time to Sell?

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)’s stock price was down 6.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $29.42 and last traded at $29.2760. Approximately 1,985,217 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 4,436,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on LBRT. TD Cowen raised their target price on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $17.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.42.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 1.7%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28 and a beta of 0.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.21. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.24% and a net margin of 3.69%.The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $880.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 40.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $634,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 784,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,918,706.22. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 9,696 shares of Liberty Energy 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,978.72. This trade represents a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 78.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771,724 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 1,529.2% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,753,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,976,000 after buying an additional 2,584,359 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 184.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,287,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,687,000 after buying an additional 2,132,685 shares during the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy in the second quarter worth $23,653,000. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth $36,394,000. Institutional investors 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.