Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Price

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its price target decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.20.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Liberty Energy stock opened at $21.34 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Liberty Energy has a 52-week low of $16.57 and a 52-week high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.45, for a total transaction of $92,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 720,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,287,819.15. This represents a 0.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total value of $36,971.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,578,813 shares in the company, valued at $46,805,455.95. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,973 shares of company stock worth $1,471,335. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Liberty Energy by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 495,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,461,000 after buying an additional 154,070 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 872,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,651,000 after purchasing an additional 37,927 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 61.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193,918 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 168.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 62,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 39,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 89.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,682,000 after purchasing an additional 165,000 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.