Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $25.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $20.00.

LBRT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.90.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT opened at $16.21 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 1.58. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $13.86 and a 12-month high of $24.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. Equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 717,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,868,218.48. This represents a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 40,000 shares of company stock worth $808,350 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 257.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 604.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 176.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 2,184 shares in the last quarter. 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.