Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Announces Earnings Results

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.13% and a net margin of 2.92%.Liberty Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 21.5%

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $19.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is presently 39.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of Liberty Energy 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 19,998 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $26,796,555. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,012 shares of company stock valued at $1,673,803. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771,724 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 1,529.2% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,753,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584,359 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $60,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,685 shares during the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $23,653,000. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the third quarter worth about $22,336,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on LBRT. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays upped their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.09.

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.