Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.10.

LBRT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT opened at $11.60 on Tuesday. Liberty Energy has a 1 year low of $9.50 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.18.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $977.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.64 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 14.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 717,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,868,218.48. The trade was a 1.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 83.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,828,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,043,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,352 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,061,000 after buying an additional 1,193,918 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,337,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,178,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,992,000 after acquiring an additional 505,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,147,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,718,000 after acquiring an additional 480,957 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.