Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Key Points

• Liberty Energy was upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a change in analysts' outlook on the stock.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.12 for the last quarter, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.14, with a revenue of $1.04 billion.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for Liberty Energy, with Barclays recently lowering its target from $16.00 to $14.00, while Wells Fargo raised its target from $11.00 to $12.00.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on LBRT. Barclays lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.05.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 6.9%

Shares of LBRT traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.72. 2,540,641 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,427,440. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.50 and a twelve month high of $23.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.02). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 6.01%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Liberty Energy's revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LBRT. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 76.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 46,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 20,041 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 551,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,330,000 after buying an additional 37,901 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 700.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 19,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 17,346 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 59,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $680,000 after buying an additional 20,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.