Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Given New $23.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its price target raised by Bank of America from $20.00 to $23.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LBRT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $23.67.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $22.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.59. Liberty Energy has a 52-week low of $11.62 and a 52-week high of $23.23.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 32.28% and a net margin of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $405,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,830,402 shares in the company, valued at $57,372,248.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Ryan T. Gosney sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 140,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,884,473. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $405,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,830,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,372,248.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,459 shares of company stock worth $2,077,491 over the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,546,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,522,000 after acquiring an additional 893,563 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,720,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,816,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,187 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,553,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,948,000 after purchasing an additional 734,764 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,443,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,314,000 after purchasing an additional 404,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 181.5% during the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 8,085,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,574,000 after buying an additional 5,213,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

About Liberty Energy

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.