Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock: Insider Ryan Gosney Acquires 3,000 Shares

Key Points

• Insider buying: Liberty Energy Chief Accounting Officer Ryan Gosney bought 3,000 shares at an average of $15 each, bringing his direct holdings to 236,327 shares.
• Shares under pressure: LBRT fell to $11.29, close to its 52-week low of $11.24; the article reports a market capitalization of $1.84 billion.
• Business and dividend: Quarterly revenue rose 26.3% year over year to $1.20 billion, while EPS of $0.06 matched estimates. The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share, equivalent to a 3.5% yield.

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) CAO Ryan Gosney purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 236,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,544,905. This represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LBRT traded down $1.85 on Thursday, hitting $11.29. The company had a trading volume of 9,707,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,337,165. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.52. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.24 and a 1-year high of $34.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 0.91% and a return on equity of 2.13%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.06) earnings per share. Liberty Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is 166.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LBRT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Liberty Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Liberty Energy in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.42.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,233,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,931,000 after acquiring an additional 431,269 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 901.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,431,125 shares of the company's stock worth $127,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988,535 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the second quarter worth $61,185,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 54.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 983,706 shares of the company's stock worth $28,331,000 after purchasing an additional 346,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 23.8% in the second 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. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Liberty Energy

Liberty Energy Inc is an oilfield services company that provides completion and production services to exploration and production companies. Its primary business is hydraulic fracturing, a well-stimulation technique used to improve the flow of oil and natural gas from unconventional reservoirs.

The company also offers wireline services, well diagnostics, frac data analysis, engineering support, and related technologies designed to help customers plan, execute, and evaluate well-completion operations.

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