Seaport Res Ptn Upgrades Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) to "Strong-Buy"

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Seaport Res Ptn from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Sunday,Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Liberty Energy's Q1 2025 earnings at $0.30 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.33 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.45 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $1.55 EPS.

LBRT has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lowered 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, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.60.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.67. 3,557,137 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,029,105. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $16.57 and a twelve month high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The business's revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.44, for a total transaction of $209,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,606,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,462,818.72. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total transaction of $416,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 680,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,161,909.74. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,973 shares of company stock worth $1,471,335. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 96.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,180 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 2,016 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

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.