Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.89.

LBRT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup cut shares of Liberty Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Liberty Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT traded up $0.64 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,060,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,544,850. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.07. Liberty Energy has a 1 year low of $16.57 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $398,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,678,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,335,166.83. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total value of $288,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 730,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,041,880.61. This trade represents a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 112,973 shares of company stock worth $2,144,485. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 3.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 19,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. 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.