Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01, Zacks reports. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 1.4%

Liberty Energy stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.22. The stock had a trading volume of 3,981,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,144,223. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.90 and a twelve month high of $34.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.17.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following the transaction, the chairman 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 9,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total value of $258,874.11. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 773,711 shares in the company, valued at $20,031,377.79. The trade was a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,012 shares of company stock worth $1,673,803. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,802,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,494,000 after buying an additional 189,829 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 78.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,826,000 after acquiring an additional 3,771,724 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 184.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,287,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,685 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,213,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,315,000 after purchasing an additional 131,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 21.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,967,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,062,000 after purchasing an additional 529,023 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LBRT. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.09.

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.