Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Price Down 8.3% – Here’s Why

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)’s share price was down 8.3% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $16.41 and last traded at $16.5250. 974,823 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 4,214,655 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on LBRT. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective 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. Barclays upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.21.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.30 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arjun Murti bought 14,053 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,002.87. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,437.59. This trade represents a 50.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 760,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,085,919.36. This trade 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. Insiders sold a total of 16,665 shares of company stock valued at $319,301 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $5,660,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,099,000. Arlington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,821,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $61,185,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $2,071,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc is an oilfield services company that provides hydraulic fracturing and related completion services to exploration and production companies. Its operations support the development of unconventional oil and natural gas wells, primarily in North America.

The company’s services and technologies include pressure pumping, well stimulation, wireline services, proppant and logistics solutions, and digital tools designed to improve completion performance and operational efficiency.