Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $31.89 and last traded at $31.7330, with a volume of 998964 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LBRT has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.42.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 1.7%

The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.93.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.21. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 1.24%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $880.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 40.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $634,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 784,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,918,706.22. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 343,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,716,010. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,826,000 after buying an additional 3,771,724 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,529.2% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,753,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,976,000 after buying an additional 2,584,359 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 184.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,287,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,687,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,685 shares in the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $23,653,000. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $36,394,000. 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.