Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Cut to Sell (D+) at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) from a hold (c-) rating to a sell (d+) rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LBRT. Barclays upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $11.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $12.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.10.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $16.93 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 0.74. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $9.50 and a one year high of $23.58.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.05). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 1.69%. The firm had revenue of $947.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 213.7% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,457 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the second quarter valued at $48,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 281.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 3,193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.