Analysts Set Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Target Price at $18.05

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.05.

Several brokerages recently commented on LBRT. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $11.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $12.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 0.71. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $9.50 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.89 and a 200-day moving average of $16.68.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 14.28%. The firm had revenue of $977.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 91.5% during the 1st quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 516,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 246,980 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 10.4% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 565,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,947,000 after buying an additional 53,324 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth about $50,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 68,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 10,814 shares during the period. Finally, QSV Equity Investors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,244,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.