Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Rated Sector Perform in New Coverage at Scotiabank

Key Points

• Scotiabank initiated coverage of Liberty Energy with a “sector perform” rating and a $19 price target, implying only 0.29% upside from the stock’s $18.95 opening price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive but mixed: Liberty Energy has eight Buy ratings and six Holds, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $28.25.
• The company recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.09 in EPS on $1.19 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 14% year over year; institutional investors own 98.22% of the stock.

Investment analysts at Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a "sector perform" rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank's price target indicates a potential upside of 0.29% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Liberty Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.25.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $18.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.61. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $11.52 and a 12 month high of $34.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. Liberty Energy's revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 14,053 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.79 per share, with a total value of $250,002.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,437.59. This trade represents a 50.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.84, for a total value of $132,253.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 760,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,085,919.36. This trade represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,998 shares of company stock worth $450,955. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Liberty Energy by 5.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 79.6% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 32,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 32,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,483 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.