Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Price Target to $29.00

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its price objective lowered by Royal Bank Of Canada from $34.00 to $29.00 in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

LBRT has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.09.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $17.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.54. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.21. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.90 and a twelve month high of $34.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 89,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 9,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, 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

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,096,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,060,000 after purchasing an additional 97,998 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,233,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,931,000 after buying an additional 431,269 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,826,000 after buying an additional 3,771,724 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 901.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,431,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,616,000 after buying an additional 3,988,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 184.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,287,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,687,000 after buying an additional 2,132,685 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Liberty Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Liberty Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liberty Energy beat Q2 expectations, reporting EPS of $0.09 and revenue of about $1.19 billion, both above estimates, with revenue up 14% year over year. Management also pointed to record utilization, pricing improvements, and AI-related initiatives as growth drivers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Liberty Energy announced a strategic joint venture with PowerBridge to support a planned 2 GW powered data center campus in Texas, reinforcing its push into power-fueled growth opportunities beyond its core oilfield services business. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital lowered its price target on Liberty Energy to $29 from $34 and kept a “sector perform” rating. The new target still suggests meaningful upside, but the cut may have dampened enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Liberty Energy’s earnings call highlighted an upbeat growth strategy, but also noted investor focus on market volatility and the company’s higher capital spending plans. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports said LBRT plunged after management raised its full-year capex outlook, which can raise concerns about near-term free cash flow even if it supports longer-term expansion. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Liberty Energy from “strong-buy” to “hold,” adding to cautious sentiment around the stock. Article Title

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. 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.