Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT – Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,560,000 shares, a drop of 6.7% from the April 15th total of 8,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 4.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of LBRT opened at $11.90 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $12.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.90, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.10. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $10.71 and a 52 week high of $19.08.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 38.98% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 59.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.03) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 6th will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 5th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $140,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,431,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,767,000 after buying an additional 622,283 shares during the period. Sapience Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Sapience Investments LLC now owns 591,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,576,000 after buying an additional 81,770 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 345,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,423,000 after acquiring an additional 40,744 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 403,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,175,000 after acquiring an additional 61,435 shares in the last quarter. 85.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LBRT shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Bank of America cut shares of Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.17.

About Liberty Energy

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Liberty Energy, Inc engages in the provision of hydraulic fracturing services to onshore oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in North America. The company was founded on December 21, 2016 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.