Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on LQDT. Weiss Ratings upgraded Liquidity Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barrington Research set a $50.00 price objective on Liquidity Services in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liquidity Services from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liquidity Services has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

Liquidity Services Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:LQDT opened at $41.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 40.67 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.62. Liquidity Services has a twelve month low of $21.67 and a twelve month high of $44.09.

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $129.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.83 million. Liquidity Services had a net margin of 6.79% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Liquidity Services has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.410-0.500 EPS. Analysts expect that Liquidity Services will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Liquidity Services

In other Liquidity Services news, Director Jaime Mateus-Tique sold 38,471 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total transaction of $1,461,513.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 164,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,244,796.20. This represents a 18.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jorge Celaya sold 9,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.79, for a total value of $366,097.29. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 66,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,067.05. The trade was a 12.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,148 shares of company stock valued at $4,181,881. Corporate insiders own 28.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Liquidity Services in the second quarter valued at $140,508,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Liquidity Services by 4,157.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 983,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,475,000 after purchasing an additional 960,416 shares in the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Liquidity Services during the second quarter valued at $37,349,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liquidity Services in the 2nd quarter worth $23,804,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liquidity Services by 55.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,281,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,227,000 after buying an additional 454,988 shares in the last quarter. 71.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Liquidity Services

Liquidity Services, Inc is a technology-driven provider of online marketplaces for surplus and remarketed assets. Through its wholly owned platforms—such as Liquidation.com, GovDeals, Machinio and GoIndustry DoveBid—the company connects sellers of industrial equipment, commercial inventory, government surplus and transportation assets with a broad base of registered buyers. Its solutions blend auction formats, fixed-price listings and managed-service offerings to support efficient asset disposition across a wide range of industries.

The company’s core services include asset valuation, marketing, inspection and logistics coordination.