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

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.4167.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Liberty Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, December 10th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,978.72. This represents a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $634,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 784,819 shares in the company, valued at $19,918,706.22. This represents a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. First Horizon Corp increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT stock opened at $27.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.22. Liberty Energy has a 1 year low of $9.50 and a 1 year high of $28.94. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.71.

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

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.