Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Trading 4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shot up 4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $18.85 and last traded at $18.7540. 2,094,676 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 4,240,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LBRT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.55.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 2.3%

The firm has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.00.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. Analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 48.65%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 6,666 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.84, for a total transaction of $132,253.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 760,379 shares in the company, valued at $15,085,919.36. The trade was a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Arjun Murti acquired 14,053 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.79 per share, with a total value of $250,002.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,437.59. The trade was a 50.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 19,998 shares of company stock worth $450,955 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Liberty Energy by 901.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,431,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988,535 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $61,185,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $36,394,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,152,000. Finally, Situational Awareness LP purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $10,471,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc is an energy services company that provides specialized equipment, technology and services used in the development of onshore oil and natural gas resources. The company primarily supports exploration and production companies during the well-completion process, with an emphasis on hydraulic fracturing and related operations.

Its services and products include hydraulic fracturing, wireline services, proppant logistics, frac-related equipment, field engineering and operational support.