Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Down 9.4% – Here’s Why

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shares dropped 9.4% on Monday. The stock traded as low as $15.21 and last traded at $15.2980. 1,818,625 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 4,275,942 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $23.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.42.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 2.13% and a net margin of 0.91%. Liberty Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.06) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 166.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ken Babcock bought 14,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $223,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,282,173.20. This represents a 21.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.84, for a total transaction of $132,253.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 760,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,085,919.36. This represents a 0.87% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,332 shares of company stock valued at $259,474. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 79.6% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the first quarter worth $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 36.8% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc is an oilfield services company that provides completion and production services to exploration and production companies. Its primary business is hydraulic fracturing, a well-stimulation technique used to improve the flow of oil and natural gas from unconventional reservoirs.

The company also offers wireline services, well diagnostics, frac data analysis, engineering support, and related technologies designed to help customers plan, execute, and evaluate well-completion operations.