Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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 report published on Friday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on LBRT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. cut their target price 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 research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.05.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 1.8%

Liberty Energy stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.09. 7,189,274 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,123,104. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $9.50 and a 12 month high of $23.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.46. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is presently 24.62%.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LBRT. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 76.0% during the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 46,400 shares of the company's stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 20,041 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 7.4% in the second 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 increased its position in Liberty Energy by 700.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 19,824 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 17,346 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its stake 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 purchasing 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 about $134,000. 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.