Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Liberty Energy's stock surged after Citigroup upgraded it from a neutral to a buy rating, raising its price target from $12.00 to $21.00.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings miss of ($0.06) per share, falling short of estimates and showing a 16.8% year-over-year revenue decline.
• Liberty Energy announced a dividend increase to $0.09 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 2.2%, and demonstrating a positive shift in its payout strategy.

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Citigroup upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $15.86, but opened at $16.49. Citigroup now has a $21.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $12.00. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $16.07, with a volume of 1,314,837 shares changing hands.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on LBRT. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on Liberty Energy from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Liberty Energy from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler set a $16.00 price target on Liberty Energy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 126,088 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,641 shares of the company's stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 63,748 shares of the company's stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.05). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 1.69%. The business had revenue of $947.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is 28.57%.

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.

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