Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Price Down 6.9% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares slid 6.9% to $29.28 on Monday (session low $29.42) on roughly 1.99 million shares traded, about 55% below the stock's average daily volume and off a prior close of $31.45.
• Analyst views are mixed but cautious: the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" (7 Buy, 7 Hold) with a $26.42 average target; recent notes include Goldman Sachs raising its target to $30 and UBS maintaining a $34 buy objective.
• Fundamentals and corporate actions: Liberty topped Q4 estimates with $0.05 EPS vs. -$0.16 expected and $1.04B revenue vs. $880.6M expected, pays a $0.09 quarterly dividend (1.3% yield), and saw insider activity including a director buying ~9,696 shares while another insider sold 25,000 shares.

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) dropped 6.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $29.42 and last traded at $29.2760. Approximately 1,985,217 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 4,436,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LBRT. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Liberty Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.42.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.99 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.27.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $880.59 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 1.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 27,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $710,978.72. The trade was a 54.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total transaction of $635,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 343,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,716,010. This represents a 6.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,503,529 shares of the company's stock worth $46,216,000 after buying an additional 946,591 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,074,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,835,000 after buying an additional 99,851 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 31,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 916,637 shares of the company's stock worth $16,921,000 after acquiring an additional 261,436 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 46,642 shares of the company's stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 22,885 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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