Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Liberty Energy from “hold” to “sell,” although broader analyst sentiment remains “Moderate Buy,” with seven Buy ratings and six Holds and an average price target of $31.09.
• Liberty Energy reported quarterly EPS of $0.09, beating estimates by $0.01, while revenue rose 14% year over year to $1.19 billion. The stock opened at $18.65, well below its 52-week high of $34.48.
• Insider activity was mixed: a director bought approximately $250,000 of shares at $17.79 each, while the CFO sold nearly 20,000 shares for about $669,533. Institutional investors own approximately 98.22% of the company.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

LBRT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Liberty Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.09.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 3.9%

LBRT stock opened at $18.65 on Friday. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $9.90 and a 52 week high of $34.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.54. The firm's 50-day moving average is $25.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. Liberty Energy's revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 19,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $669,533.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 800,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,796,555. This trade represents a 2.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 14,053 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,002.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,437.59. The trade was a 50.98% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,012 shares of company stock valued at $1,673,803. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,992.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,030 shares of the company's stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 11,455 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,955 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 14,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at $119,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

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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