Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Down 6.5% - Here's Why

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 6.5% on Monday . The company traded as low as $12.14 and last traded at $12.13. Approximately 1,602,911 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 2,818,006 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.98.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.23.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 1.6%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. The company had revenue of $977.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is 21.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LBRT. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,828,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,352 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 6.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,443,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $291,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,491 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,337,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,178,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,992,000 after purchasing an additional 505,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,743,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.