Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on LBRT. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.18.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $27.09 on Monday. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $9.90 and a 12-month high of $34.48. The company has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.71 million. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 3.71%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is presently 39.56%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $249,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $103,323.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 783,710 shares in the company, valued at $24,295,010. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,013 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,929. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 79.6% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the third quarter worth about $29,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.