Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.19 EPS

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19, Zacks reports. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.24% and a net margin of 3.69%.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of LBRT stock traded up $1.09 on Wednesday, reaching $29.42. 4,109,214 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,506,767. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $9.90 and a 52 week high of $32.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.06 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.84.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $17.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 9,696 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,978.72. This trade represents a 54.25% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 343,150 shares in the company, valued at $8,716,010. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,802,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,494,000 after purchasing an additional 189,829 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771,724 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 184.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,287,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,685 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,213,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,315,000 after purchasing an additional 131,278 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,967,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,062,000 after purchasing an additional 529,023 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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. 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.