Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.4167.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LBRT shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 target price on Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $31.82 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $30.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.47. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $9.90 and a 12-month high of $34.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 34.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 3.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $954.71 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 0.07 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 19,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $669,533.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 800,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,796,555. This trade represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $249,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at $3,046,185.60. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LBRT. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 94,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 4,095 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,992.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 11,455 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 0.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 868,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,756,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 22.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 81,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 14,663 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the second quarter valued at $119,000. 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. 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.