Barclays Upgrades Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) to Overweight

Key Points

• Barclays upgraded Liberty Energy to “overweight” from “equal weight” and set a $27 price target, implying approximately 42.6% upside from the reported $18.93 share price.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with eight Buy ratings and five Holds; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $29.09.
• Liberty Energy beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.09 in EPS versus $0.08 forecast and $1.19 billion in revenue versus $1.09 billion expected, while revenue increased 14% year over year.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $27.00 price target on the stock. Barclays's price target would indicate a potential upside of 42.60% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LBRT. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered Liberty Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.09.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $18.93 on Monday. Liberty Energy has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $34.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.81. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.59, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.61.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. Liberty Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 6,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.84, for a total value of $132,253.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 760,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,085,919.36. This represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Arjun Murti purchased 14,053 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.79 per share, with a total value of $250,002.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at $740,437.59. The trade was a 50.98% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,998 shares of company stock valued at $450,955. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arlington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at about $3,821,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,099,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,051,488 shares of the company's stock worth $27,538,000 after purchasing an additional 201,839 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $171,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $534,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc is an energy services company that provides specialized equipment, technology and services used in the development of onshore oil and natural gas resources. The company primarily supports exploration and production companies during the well-completion process, with an emphasis on hydraulic fracturing and related operations.

Its services and products include hydraulic fracturing, wireline services, proppant logistics, frac-related equipment, field engineering and operational support.

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