Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Liberty Energy has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 13 covering firms, with an average 12-month price target of about $32.18.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.06 EPS versus a loss estimate and $1.02 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 4.5% year over year.
• Liberty Energy also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 1.5%, while insiders have been selling shares in recent months.

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.1818.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LBRT shares. Zacks Research upgraded Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays upped their target price on Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE LBRT opened at $24.44 on Thursday. Liberty Energy has a 52-week low of $9.90 and a 52-week high of $34.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.50 and a 200-day moving average of $26.78.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.04 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is 39.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 19,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $669,533.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 800,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,796,555. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 89,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,012 shares of company stock worth $1,673,803. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Liberty Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.

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