Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Given New $23.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its price objective lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $25.00 to $23.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

LBRT has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.30.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $21.20 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.66. Liberty Energy has a fifty-two week low of $16.57 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.64.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 15.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total transaction of $416,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 680,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,161,909.74. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total transaction of $36,971.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,578,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,805,455.95. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,973 shares of company stock valued at $1,471,335. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Liberty Energy by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 82.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 93.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.