Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.19 EPS

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.19, Zacks reports. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 1.24%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $954.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT traded up $2.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,627,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,461,111. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Liberty Energy has a fifty-two week low of $9.90 and a fifty-two week high of $32.40.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $634,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 784,819 shares in the company, valued at $19,918,706.22. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 9,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,978.72. The trade was a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,826,000 after acquiring an additional 3,771,724 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,529.2% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,753,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,976,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584,359 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 184.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,287,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,687,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,685 shares during the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $23,653,000. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $22,336,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LBRT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.83.

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.