Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. Bank of America now has a $31.00 price target on the stock. Liberty Energy traded as high as $27.70 and last traded at $27.5910, with a volume of 491986 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.68.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Liberty Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.08.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 784,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,918,706.22. This represents a 3.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total transaction of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 343,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,716,010. This represents a 6.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. First Horizon Corp lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 120.0% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 1.8%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 0.49. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.21. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.24% and a net margin of 3.69%.The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $880.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.