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

Key Points

• Liberty Energy has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" from 14 brokerages, with seven buy ratings and seven hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $30.42.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $0.06 versus estimates for a loss of $0.13, on revenue of $1.02 billion, which was above forecasts and up 4.5% year over year.
• Liberty Energy also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, or $0.36 annually, representing a 1.1% yield; the ex-dividend date is June 4 and payment date is June 18.

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.4167.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LBRT shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $33.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.21. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.90 and a twelve month high of $34.48. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $30.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.40 and a beta of 0.56.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.71 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is presently 39.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 5.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,855 shares of the company's stock worth $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. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 23,760 shares of the company's stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,583 shares of the company's stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,620 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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