Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $19.80, but opened at $20.43. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $20.32, with a volume of 48,516 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.20.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 3.2 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.37. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 7.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 22.85% and a net margin of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $395,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,638,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,169,333.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total value of $288,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 730,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,041,880.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $395,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,638,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,169,333.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,945,650 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LBRT. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,754,000 after buying an additional 594,051 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,634,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,030,000 after acquiring an additional 67,362 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 48.0% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,981,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,385,000 after purchasing an additional 642,700 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 19.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,717,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,880,000 after purchasing an additional 280,550 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 34.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,498,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,312,000 after purchasing an additional 381,841 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.