Brokerages Set Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) PT at $22.50

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.20.

A number of research analysts have commented on LBRT shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 45.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 495,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after acquiring an additional 154,070 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 872,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,651,000 after purchasing an additional 37,927 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193,918 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 168.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 62,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,000 after buying an additional 39,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 89.2% during the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,682,000 after buying an additional 165,000 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT opened at $21.34 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.66. Liberty Energy has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.66.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

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.