Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Price Down 6.6% – Time to Sell?

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shares fell 6.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $17.72 and last traded at $17.8750. 751,272 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 3,801,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on LBRT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Liberty Energy from $11.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler set a $16.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.64.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.05). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 1.69%. The firm had revenue of $947.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 32.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 37.7% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 231,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 63,461 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the second quarter worth about $202,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,093,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,952,000 after buying an additional 584,774 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 112.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 38,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 20,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 168.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 57,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 36,279 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.