Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Trading 4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shares shot up 4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $18.85 and last traded at $18.7540. Approximately 2,094,676 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 4,240,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.55.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.99.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 48.65%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other news, Director Arjun Murti acquired 14,053 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.79 per share, with a total value of $250,002.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,621 shares in the company, valued at $740,437.59. This trade represents a 50.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 6,666 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 760,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 have sold 19,998 shares of company stock valued at $450,955 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arlington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the second quarter worth $3,821,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,099,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Liberty Energy by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,051,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,538,000 after acquiring an additional 201,839 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $171,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $534,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Liberty Energy

Liberty Energy Inc is an energy services company that provides specialized equipment, technology and services used in the development of onshore oil and natural gas resources. The company primarily supports exploration and production companies during the well-completion process, with an emphasis on hydraulic fracturing and related operations.

Its services and products include hydraulic fracturing, wireline services, proppant logistics, frac-related equipment, field engineering and operational support.