Royal Bank Of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Price

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 67.23% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.09.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 11.6%

Liberty Energy stock opened at $17.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.54. Liberty Energy has a 12 month low of $9.90 and a 12 month high of $34.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 9,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total value of $258,874.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 773,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,031,377.79. The trade was a 1.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 54,012 shares of company stock worth $1,673,803 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 23,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Liberty Energy

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

• Positive Sentiment: Liberty Energy beat Q2 expectations, reporting EPS of $0.09 and revenue of about $1.19 billion, both above estimates, with revenue up 14% year over year. Management also pointed to record utilization, pricing improvements, and AI-related initiatives as growth drivers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Liberty Energy announced a strategic joint venture with PowerBridge to support a planned 2 GW powered data center campus in Texas, reinforcing its push into power-fueled growth opportunities beyond its core oilfield services business. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital lowered its price target on Liberty Energy to $29 from $34 and kept a “sector perform” rating. The new target still suggests meaningful upside, but the cut may have dampened enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Liberty Energy’s earnings call highlighted an upbeat growth strategy, but also noted investor focus on market volatility and the company’s higher capital spending plans. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports said LBRT plunged after management raised its full-year capex outlook, which can raise concerns about near-term free cash flow even if it supports longer-term expansion. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Liberty Energy from “strong-buy” to “hold,” adding to cautious sentiment around the stock. Article Title

Liberty Energy Company Profile

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.