Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Dropped to Strong Sell by Wall Street Zen

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

LBRT has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Liberty Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays raised shares of Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.71.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Liberty Energy stock opened at $15.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.71. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $14.76 and a 12-month high of $34.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.22.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.06. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 2.13% and a net margin of 0.91%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 14,053 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.79 per share, with a total value of $250,002.87. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 3,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $66,660.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 753,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,074,260. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 16,665 shares of company stock worth $319,301 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,233,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,931,000 after acquiring an additional 431,269 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 901.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,431,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988,535 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $61,185,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 54.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 983,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,331,000 after buying an additional 346,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,051,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,538,000 after purchasing an additional 201,839 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Liberty Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Liberty Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler initiated or reiterated a Buy rating on Liberty Energy, providing a bullish analyst signal following the company’s recent results. Liberty Energy Gets a Buy from Piper Sandler
• Positive Sentiment: Liberty Energy highlighted a potential 1.2-gigawatt AI power development agreement, with the first approximately 500-megawatt energy service agreement targeted by December 2026. Phased energization could extend through the first quarter of 2029, offering longer-term diversification beyond oilfield services. Liberty Energy AI Power Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 26.3% year over year to approximately $1.2 billion, supported by fleet utilization and improved pricing. Adjusted EBITDA was $142 million, and the company returned $15 million to shareholders through dividends. Liberty Energy Third-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Trading activity was unusually bullish, with purchases of 4,761 call options—about 138% above typical daily volume—suggesting increased speculative interest in a rebound.
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen maintained a Hold rating while lowering its price target from $24 to $22. Although the target implies substantial potential upside, the reduction signals more cautious expectations. TD Cowen Liberty Energy Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted EPS of $0.06 missed one analyst consensus estimate of $0.08, while higher costs constrained earnings. The company also reported a $39 million GAAP net loss, or $0.24 per diluted share, underscoring the limited profit cushion. Liberty Energy Q3 Earnings Miss

About Liberty Energy

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.