Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Short Interest Up 23.0% in March

Key Points

• Short interest rose 23.0% in March to 13,456,023 shares, representing 8.5% of the stock and a short-interest ratio of about 2.2 days based on average daily volume.
• Insider activity was mixed: Director Arjun N. Murti bought 9,696 shares at $25.79 (a 54.25% increase in his holdings) while insider R. Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares; corporate insiders own about 2% of the stock.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $26.83; the company recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates and announced a $0.09 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.36, ~1.3% yield).

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 13,456,023 shares, an increase of 23.0% from the March 15th total of 10,942,627 shares. Currently, 8.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,127,402 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 9,696 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,978.72. This represents a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total transaction of $635,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 343,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,716,010. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. First Horizon Corp raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.83.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

LBRT stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $27.97. 1,807,670 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,545,813. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.37. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $9.90 and a one year high of $32.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43 and a beta of 0.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $880.59 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 1.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is presently 40.45%.

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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