Zacks Research Research Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) – Research analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for Liberty Energy in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 25th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $0.64 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.67. The consensus estimate for Liberty Energy’s current full-year earnings is $2.54 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Liberty Energy’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.66 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $2.54 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.78 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.75 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.99 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.26 EPS.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 26.46% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on LBRT. Bank of America lifted their target price on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.30.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $23.02 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.43 and its 200 day moving average is $19.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.85. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $11.62 and a 12-month high of $23.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LBRT. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 93.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,210,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221,588 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 455.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,536,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260,142 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $21,278,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,546,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,522,000 after acquiring an additional 893,563 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Liberty Energy by 4,473.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 836,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,491,000 after purchasing an additional 818,182 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $405,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,830,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,372,248.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total value of $268,491.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 69,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,507,702.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $405,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,830,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,372,248.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,459 shares of company stock worth $2,077,491. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 10.22%.

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.