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

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.70.

LBRT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays dropped their target price 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 reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

Liberty Energy stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $17.29. The stock had a trading volume of 2,501,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,514,195. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $19.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $16.69 and a 12-month high of $24.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.68.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 22.85% and a net margin of 9.53%. Liberty Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This is an increase from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.68%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.92, for a total value of $458,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 765,207 shares in the company, valued at $17,538,544.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,945,650. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $27,809,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 48.0% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,981,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,385,000 after buying an additional 642,700 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,754,000 after acquiring an additional 594,051 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 60.2% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,437,041 shares of the company's stock worth $29,775,000 after purchasing an additional 539,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 345.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 573,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,974,000 after purchasing an additional 444,500 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.