Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Shares hit a new 52-week high after Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target from $28 to $37 and kept a buy rating.
• Several other firms also raised targets (e.g., Morgan Stanley to $34, Citi to $32), leaving a consensus of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $28.58 and seven analysts rated Buy versus seven Hold.
• Liberty Energy beat the quarter—reporting $0.06 EPS vs. consensus of ($0.13) and $1.02B revenue vs. $954.7M—and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 (≈1.1% yield); insider director Arjun Murti bought shares recently while another insider sold, and institutions own roughly 98% of the stock.

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $37.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Liberty Energy traded as high as $32.79 and last traded at $31.9220, with a volume of 491841 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.32.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on LBRT. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Liberty Energy from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Bank of America upgraded Liberty Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Liberty Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $17.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.58.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the purchase, the director owned 27,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at $710,978.72. This represents a 54.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total transaction of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 343,150 shares in the company, valued at $8,716,010. This represents a 6.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $838,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,318,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 599,900 shares of the company's stock worth $7,403,000 after purchasing an additional 399,900 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 94.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 95,511 shares of the company's stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 46,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP now owns 334,637 shares of the company's stock worth $4,129,000 after purchasing an additional 162,668 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $28.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 0.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.39%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.71 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis 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 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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