Analysts Set Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Price Target at $19.60

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.40.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LBRT. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Liberty Energy stock opened at $12.05 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.92 and its 200 day moving average is $17.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 1.18. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.50 and a twelve month high of $24.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $977.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.64 million. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is presently 17.11%.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total transaction of $179,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 717,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,868,218.48. The trade was a 1.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 70.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 10,362 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 145,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,784,000 after buying an additional 36,573 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $407,000. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 6.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 122,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 197.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 286,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,471,000 after acquiring an additional 190,445 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is 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.