Morgan Stanley Lowers Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Price Target to $20.00

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $25.00 to $20.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada cut Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.55.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Liberty Energy stock opened at $12.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $12.80 and its 200 day moving average is $16.61. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.50 and a twelve month high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $977.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.64 million. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.19%.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 6.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,443,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,491 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 6.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,508,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,201,000 after purchasing an additional 330,520 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,828,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,352 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 3.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,507,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,696,000 after buying an additional 73,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 13.5% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,438,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,593,000 after buying an additional 290,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.