Michael Stock Sells 19,998 Shares of Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) CFO Michael Stock sold 19,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $669,533.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 800,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,796,555. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 0.4%

LBRT stock opened at $32.85 on Friday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.90 and a twelve month high of $34.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.45 and a 200 day moving average of $24.38.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 3.71%.The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is presently 39.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LBRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.42.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LBRT. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 5.7% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 187,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,403,000 after purchasing an additional 10,194 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 16,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 4,955 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $7,626,000. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $547,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.