Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has raised its price target for Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) from $13.00 to $15.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.36% from the current price.
• Liberty Energy reported a quarterly loss of ($0.06) earnings per share, missing analyst estimates, and its revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% from the previous year.
• The stock has an average rating of "Hold" from analysts, with 98.22% of shares held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "sector perform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective indicates a potential downside of 2.36% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on LBRT. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (down previously from $14.00) on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, October 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Liberty Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.45.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $15.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.85. Liberty Energy has a 52-week low of $9.50 and a 52-week high of $23.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 213.7% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,457 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 281.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 3,193 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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