Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.06), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 26.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $22.37 on Friday. Liberty Energy has a 52-week low of $11.62 and a 52-week high of $23.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.68.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LBRT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $405,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,830,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,372,248.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Liberty Energy news, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $268,491.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 69,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,507,702.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $405,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,830,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,372,248.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 98,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,077,491. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 111.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by 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.