Zacks Research Lowers Earnings Estimates for Liberty Energy

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) – Analysts at Zacks Research decreased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Liberty Energy in a research report issued on Monday, December 2nd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the company will earn $1.70 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $1.71. The consensus estimate for Liberty Energy’s current full-year earnings is $1.75 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Liberty Energy’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.16 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.22 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.29 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.37 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.12 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.32 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.32 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.51 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $1.65 EPS.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.89.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $18.58 on Wednesday. Liberty Energy has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $24.75. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.27.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $398,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,678,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,335,166.83. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total value of $288,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 730,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,041,880.61. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 94,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,796,552. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $368,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 571.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 35,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 69.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the second quarter worth $261,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.