Liberty Energy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:LBRT)

Key Points

• Liberty Energy Inc. experienced a significant increase in options trading activity, with 9,410 call options acquired on Monday, marking a 358% rise compared to the usual volume.
• The company's stock price rose by 6.8%, reaching $16.36, while its trading volume exceeded the average at 5,852,251 shares.
• Liberty Energy announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.08 to $0.09, representing a $0.36 annualized amount and a yield of 2.2%, with the dividend to be paid on December 18th.

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 9,410 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 358% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,055 call options.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 6.8%

LBRT stock traded up $1.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $16.36. The company had a trading volume of 5,852,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,709,063. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.85. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $9.50 and a 12 month high of $23.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $947.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.05 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 1.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is 28.57%.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the second quarter worth about $29,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the first quarter worth about $50,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 213.7% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the second quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 281.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3,193 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LBRT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $16.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.75.

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.

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