Traders Buy High Volume of Liberty Energy Call Options (NYSE:LBRT)

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 5,552 call options on the company. This is an increase of 399% compared to the average volume of 1,113 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 9,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total value of $258,874.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 773,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,031,377.79. This represents a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,012 shares of company stock worth $1,673,803. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth $28,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of Liberty Energy stock opened at $24.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.54. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.90 and a twelve month high of $34.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 3.71%.The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. Liberty Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 39.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LBRT. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.09.

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. 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.