Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Cut to "Hold" at Atb Cap Markets

Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen cut their price target on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.70.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LBRT traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $17.70. The company had a trading volume of 5,230,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,508,886. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $16.69 and a 12-month high of $24.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.31. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.46, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 22.85% and a net margin of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.68%.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $395,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,638,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,169,333.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total transaction of $395,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,638,813 shares in the company, valued at $52,169,333.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 750,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,011,642.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,000 shares of company stock worth $1,945,650 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the second quarter worth about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 69.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 43.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the period. 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.