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

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Fourteen analysts give LBRT an average rating of "Moderate Buy" (seven buys, seven holds) with a 12‑month average price target of $29.08, and several firms recently raised targets (e.g., Morgan Stanley to $34, Citi to $32).
• Q1 beat but valuation risk: Liberty reported Q1 revenue of $1.02B and EPS of $0.06 versus consensus $954.7M and -$0.13, with management expecting Q2 revenue to rise, but the stock trades at a high P/E (~36) and some estimates still forecast a modest full‑year EPS shortfall.
• Dividends and ownership moves: The company declared a $0.09 quarterly dividend (1.1% yield), a director bought ~9,696 shares while the CFO sold 25,000 shares, and institutional investors own roughly 98% of the stock.

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.0833.

LBRT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT opened at $32.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.01 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.11. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.90 and a twelve month high of $33.15.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.71 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.45%.

Key Headlines Impacting Liberty Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Liberty Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — Liberty reported stronger-than-expected Q1 revenue ($1.02B) and an EPS beat, and management expects Q2 revenues to rise high-single-digits sequentially on improved utilization with normal incremental EBITDA margins, which supports near-term earnings momentum. Zacks: Q1 results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and higher price target — Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target from $28 to $37 and maintained a Buy, signaling analyst confidence in upside after the quarter (helps support demand for the stock). Benzinga: Stifel raise
• Positive Sentiment: Sector/geopolitical tailwind — Recent US–Iran tensions have lifted energy names broadly and contributed to LBRT’s momentum and a move toward its all‑time high as investors favor energy-exposed operators. InsiderMonkey: geopolitical boost
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation review and growth outlook — Analysts/media are parsing LBRT’s post‑earnings valuation and growth trajectory; the commentary is largely constructive but notes investors should weigh near‑term growth vs. current multiple. Yahoo Finance: valuation check
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call details available — The full Q1 earnings call transcript provides additional color on utilization, margins and capex that investors can use to validate forward guidance and assumptions. Seeking Alpha: transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and full‑year outlook risk — Despite the beat, LBRT trades at an elevated multiple (P/E ~36) and some consensus estimates still expect a modest full‑year EPS shortfall; investors should watch whether margin improvements and utilization gains justify the current valuation. Kalkine: momentum & risks

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,978.72. This trade represents a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 784,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,918,706.22. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LBRT. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 94,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 4,095 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 1,992.2% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 11,455 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 868,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,756,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 81,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 14,663 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $119,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Liberty Energy

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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