Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $19.75, but opened at $20.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $24.00 price target on the stock. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $19.5360, with a volume of 523,663 shares trading hands.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on LBRT. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Liberty Energy from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.36.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LBRT. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,163.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 2,147 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 139,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 4,814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 1.9%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $967.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.14%.

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.