Barclays Upgrades Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) to “Overweight”

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $27.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $23.00. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 46.25% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered Liberty Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.25.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $18.46 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.70 and a 200-day moving average of $25.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.61. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $11.52 and a 12 month high of $34.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 6,666 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.84, for a total value of $132,253.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 760,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,085,919.36. This trade represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Arjun Murti bought 14,053 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,002.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $740,437.59. This trade represents a 50.98% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arlington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,821,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,099,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,051,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,538,000 after purchasing an additional 201,839 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $171,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the second quarter valued at about $534,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc is an energy services company that provides specialized equipment, technology and services used in the development of onshore oil and natural gas resources. The company primarily supports exploration and production companies during the well-completion process, with an emphasis on hydraulic fracturing and related operations.

Its services and products include hydraulic fracturing, wireline services, proppant logistics, frac-related equipment, field engineering and operational support.