Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Key Points

• Barclays raised its price target on Liberty Energy from $23 to $24 but kept an "equal weight" rating, and that $24 target implies roughly a 14.7% downside from the stock's current price.
• Other firms are more bullish — Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs lifted targets (some up to $30) — and MarketBeat's consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $26.50 consensus target.
• Liberty Energy posted an earnings beat with $0.05 EPS versus -$0.16 expected and revenue of $1.04B (vs. $880.6M expected), with revenue up 10.1% year-over-year.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $23.00 to $24.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Barclays's price objective indicates a potential downside of 14.67% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America raised Liberty Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Liberty Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Liberty Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.50.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT opened at $28.13 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.71 and a 200 day moving average of $20.84. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 0.48. Liberty Energy has a 1-year low of $9.50 and a 1-year high of $32.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $1.04 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 784,819 shares in the company, valued at $19,918,706.22. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the acquisition, the director owned 27,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at $710,978.72. This represents a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the third quarter worth $838,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the third quarter worth $1,318,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 200.0% in the third quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 599,900 shares of the company's stock worth $7,403,000 after acquiring an additional 399,900 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 94.3% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 95,511 shares of the company's stock worth $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 46,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 23.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 273,258 shares of the company's stock worth $3,372,000 after acquiring an additional 51,266 shares during the last quarter. 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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