Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $16.90, but opened at $17.68. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $17.37, with a volume of 3,475,221 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup cut shares of Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.89.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 2.1 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.86 and a 200 day moving average of $20.57. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.70.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $105,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 745,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,656,799.07. The trade was a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,578,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,805,455.95. This trade represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 99,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,911,802. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Liberty Energy by 69.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 237.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.0% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.