Liberty Energy Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:LBRT)

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 5,552 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 399% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,113 call options.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $25.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.21. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $9.90 and a twelve month high of $34.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is presently 39.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.09.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 19,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,796,555. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 89,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,012 shares of company stock worth $1,673,803 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,096,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,060,000 after buying an additional 97,998 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,826,000 after acquiring an additional 3,771,724 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings 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 valued at $127,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 184.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,287,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,687,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,685 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.