Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Given New $30.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) had its target price upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $26.00 to $30.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Liberty Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.42.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

LBRT opened at $27.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.22. Liberty Energy has a 52-week low of $9.50 and a 52-week high of $28.94. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.01 and its 200-day moving average is $17.64.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.21. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.24% and a net margin of 3.69%.The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $880.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 40.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 784,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,918,706.22. This represents a 3.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 343,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,716,010. This represents a 6.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the third quarter worth $838,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 10.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,093,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,952,000 after purchasing an additional 584,774 shares during the period. Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $1,318,000. Callodine Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 203.3% during the 2nd quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 1,057,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,134,000 after buying an additional 708,453 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,161,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,815,000 after buying an additional 365,506 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.