Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Lowered to Neutral at Citigroup

Citigroup lowered shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $19.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $25.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.70.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $17.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $16.69 and a one year high of $24.75. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.46, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.68.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 22.85%. Liberty Energy’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.68%.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total transaction of $288,450.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 730,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,041,880.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total transaction of $395,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,638,813 shares in the company, valued at $52,169,333.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total value of $288,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 730,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,041,880.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,000 shares of company stock worth $1,945,650. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LBRT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 14.1% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,338,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,732,000 after purchasing an additional 165,400 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 20,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $348,000. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $253,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.