Barclays Cuts Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Price Target to $26.00

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an equal weight rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $24.78.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LBRT traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.18. 1,093,988 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,709,746. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.12. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $15.57 and a one year high of $24.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 7.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 22.85%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Liberty Energy’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.22%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, CAO Ryan T. Gosney sold 2,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total value of $47,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 170,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,727. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ryan T. Gosney sold 2,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total transaction of $47,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 170,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,727. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 4,374 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $91,897.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 785,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,497,199.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 176,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,731. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,546,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,522,000 after buying an additional 893,563 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,443,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,314,000 after buying an additional 404,211 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,981,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,385,000 after buying an additional 642,700 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 60.2% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,437,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,775,000 after buying an additional 539,861 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,809,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.