Brokerages Set Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Price Target at $22.89

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 1.3 %

LBRT opened at $18.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.23. Liberty Energy has a fifty-two week low of $16.57 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.49, for a total transaction of $184,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 705,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,039,277.43. The trade was a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total transaction of $395,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,638,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,169,333.01. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,973 shares of company stock valued at $1,641,235 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 495,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,461,000 after purchasing an additional 154,070 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 872,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,651,000 after buying an additional 37,927 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 168.2% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 62,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after buying an additional 39,497 shares during the last quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 89.2% during the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,682,000 after buying an additional 165,000 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 8.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,237,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,709,000 after acquiring an additional 166,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.