Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Key Points

• Liberty Energy shares gapped down pre-market, opening at $27.26 after a $29.70 close; the stock last traded around $27.63 on roughly 1.93 million shares.
• Analysts are split — seven Buy and seven Hold — yielding a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $26.42, with notable upgrades to $30 from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
• The company reported an earnings beat (Q4 EPS $0.05 vs. -$0.16 expected; revenue $1.04B vs. $880.6M expected), declared a $0.09 quarterly dividend (≈1.3% yield), and saw insider activity (a director bought ~9,696 shares while the CFO sold 25,000 shares).

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $29.70, but opened at $27.26. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $27.6250, with a volume of 1,926,154 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liberty Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.42.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.54.

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

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is presently 40.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 9,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $634,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 784,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,918,706.22. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 23,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,583 shares of the company's stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp grew its position in shares of 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. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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