Wall Street Zen Downgrades Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) to Sell

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.09.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

LBRT opened at $18.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.69 and its 200 day moving average is $27.15. Liberty Energy has a 12-month low of $9.90 and a 12-month high of $34.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 0.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 19,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $669,533.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 800,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,796,555. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company’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 transaction, the chairman owned 89,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,012 shares of company stock valued at $1,673,803. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 79.6% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.