Zacks Research Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) – Zacks Research upped their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Liberty Energy in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 25th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $0.76 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.75. The consensus estimate for Liberty Energy’s current full-year earnings is $2.53 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Liberty Energy’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.51 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.95 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.60 EPS.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 26.46%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.30.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT opened at $23.01 on Monday. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $11.62 and a twelve month high of $23.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.89.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 93.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221,588 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Liberty Energy by 455.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,536,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,462,000 after buying an additional 1,260,142 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $21,278,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,546,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,522,000 after acquiring an additional 893,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 4,473.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 836,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,491,000 after acquiring an additional 818,182 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,479,865. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Liberty Energy news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 218,530 shares in the company, valued at $4,479,865. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total value of $268,491.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 69,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,507,702.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 98,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,077,491. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 10.22%.

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.