Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.4167.

LBRT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $634,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 784,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,918,706.22. This trade represents a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 9,696 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,978.72. The trade was a 54.25% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771,724 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 1,529.2% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,753,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,976,000 after buying an additional 2,584,359 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 184.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,287,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,687,000 after buying an additional 2,132,685 shares in the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $23,653,000. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,394,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LBRT opened at $28.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.06. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $9.50 and a 52 week high of $32.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.21. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.24% and a net margin of 3.69%.The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $880.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.45%.

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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.