Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Trading Down 3.9% Following Insider Selling

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) dropped 3.9% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $17.60 and last traded at $17.61. Approximately 220,756 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 2,507,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.33.

Specifically, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total transaction of $291,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,562,813 shares in the company, valued at $46,720,080.99. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.49, for a total value of $184,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 705,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,039,277.43. The trade was a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on LBRT shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered shares of Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.89.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 1.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.17.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Liberty Energy’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is presently 13.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 96.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 69.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.