Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Trading 3.2% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) rose 3.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $19.37 and last traded at $19.29. Approximately 1,082,214 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 2,544,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on LBRT. Citigroup cut shares of Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.50.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.05 and a 200-day moving average of $19.65.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.24%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $395,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,638,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,169,333.01. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $86,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 725,207 shares in the company, valued at $12,480,812.47. This represents a 0.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 87,973 shares of company stock worth $1,641,235. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 96.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 237.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 93.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 2,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.