Insider Buying: Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Director Purchases $223,300.00 in Stock

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Director Ken Babcock bought 14,500 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $223,300.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,282,173.20. The trade was a 21.09% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:LBRT opened at $16.83 on Friday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a one year low of $14.76 and a one year high of $34.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.68 and a 200-day moving average of $24.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.71.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 0.91% and a return on equity of 2.13%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.06) earnings per share. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 150.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LBRT shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Arlington Capital Management INC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Arlington Capital Management INC now owns 148,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 50,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 15,258 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 368.2% in the 3rd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 20,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 16,014 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 29,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 5,908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.