Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,690,000 shares, a decrease of 14.0% from the December 15th total of 17,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,800,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days. Approximately 9.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,936 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $56,253.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,543,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,740,683.32. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $86,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 725,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,480,812.47. This trade represents a 0.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,973 shares of company stock worth $1,586,335. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 96.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 237.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 82.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 93.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 24.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of LBRT traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.67. 3,402,142 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,333,240. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Liberty Energy has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $24.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.18 and a 200-day moving average of $19.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during 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 was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

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.