Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Down 6.2% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) dropped 6.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $19.97 and last traded at $19.9790. 1,116,463 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 4,338,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LBRT. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.36.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 4.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $23.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.07.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 2.92%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.65%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.95, for a total value of $59,827.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 770,378 shares in the company, valued at $13,828,285.10. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 14,053 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.79 per share, with a total value of $250,002.87. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,437.59. The trade was a 50.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,997 shares of company stock valued at $814,785. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.