Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Upgraded to “Overweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $24.00 price target on the stock.

LBRT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $12.00 to $21.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $16.00 price objective on Liberty Energy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.36.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $20.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97 and a beta of 0.47. Liberty Energy has a 1-year low of $9.50 and a 1-year high of $23.58. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.38.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 1.69% and a net margin of 4.76%.The business had revenue of $947.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,163.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 3,550 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 139,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 4,814 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.