Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Given New $20.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $25.00 to $20.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.55.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE LBRT opened at $12.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.80 and a 200 day moving average of $16.61. Liberty Energy has a 1 year low of $9.50 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $977.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.64 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 14.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 11,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 62,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 54,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.