Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.4167.

Several brokerages recently commented on LBRT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 343,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,716,010. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the purchase, the director owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,978.72. This represents a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. First Horizon Corp grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE LBRT opened at $27.69 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.46 and its 200-day moving average is $20.66. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $9.50 and a 12-month high of $32.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11 and a beta of 0.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $880.59 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

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. 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.