Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $11.43, but opened at $12.70. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $12.54, with a volume of 469,307 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $977.46 million for 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 last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.40.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 717,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 604.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 176.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184 shares during the period. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.92 and a 200 day moving average of $17.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 1.18.

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.