Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Six of 14 analysts rate Liberty Energy a hold and eight recommend buying the stock, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average 12-month price target of $27.21. Recent actions were mixed, including upgrades from Barclays and downgrades to targets from Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and UBS.
• Liberty Energy reported quarterly earnings of $0.09 per share, beating estimates by $0.01, while revenue reached $1.19 billion—up 14% year over year and above forecasts. Analysts expect full-year earnings of approximately $0.30 per share.
• The stock opened at $16.62, well below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $19.58 and $24.64, respectively, and has traded between $11.52 and $34.48 over the past year. Institutional investors own 98.22% of shares, while recent insider activity included a CFO sale and a director purchase.

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.21.

Several research firms recently weighed in on LBRT. Barclays upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $28.50 to $27.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Liberty Energy from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 6,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.84, for a total value of $132,253.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 760,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,085,919.36. This trade represents a 0.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Arjun Murti purchased 14,053 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.79 per share, with a total value of $250,002.87. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $740,437.59. This trade represents a 50.98% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,665 shares of company stock valued at $319,301. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LBRT. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 79.6% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 1,397.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 3,129 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 2,920 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Liberty Energy stock opened at $16.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $11.52 and a 12 month high of $34.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 firm 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%. The firm'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 firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 0.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc is an oilfield services company that provides hydraulic fracturing and related completion services to exploration and production companies. Its operations support the development of unconventional oil and natural gas wells, primarily in North America.

The company's services and technologies include pressure pumping, well stimulation, wireline services, proppant and logistics solutions, and digital tools designed to improve completion performance and operational efficiency.

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.