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

Key Points

• Barclays raised its price target on Liberty Energy to $32 (from $29) while keeping an "equal weight" rating, and other brokerages have lifted targets (Piper Sandler $38 overweight, UBS $40 buy), leaving a consensus average target of $30.42 with a split of seven Buy and seven Hold ratings ("Moderate Buy").
• Shares traded at about $32.74EPS beat ($0.06 vs. -$0.13) and revenue of $1.02B (vs. $954.7M), with revenue up 4.5% year-over-year; market cap is ~$5.34B and P/E ~35.98.
• Insider activity was mixed: the chairman sold 7,350 shares at $33.92 while a director bought 9,696 shares at $25.79; insiders own ~2% of the stock and institutional investors own ~98.22%.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Barclays from $29.00 to $32.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Barclays's price objective indicates a potential downside of 2.26% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on LBRT. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.42.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT traded up $1.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.74. The company had a trading volume of 619,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,473,026. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $9.90 and a 52 week high of $34.42. The firm has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $29.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.24.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $249,312.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at $3,046,185.60. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 9,696 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the purchase, the director directly 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 32,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,233,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,931,000 after purchasing an additional 431,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Context Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,455,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

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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