Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $15.42, but opened at $16.21. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $16.27, with a volume of 507,874 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on LBRT shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Atb Cap Markets upgraded Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.90.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 6.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.55.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 14.28%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.11%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total transaction of $416,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 680,207 shares in the company, valued at $14,161,909.74. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $808,350. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Liberty Energy by 604.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 257.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 176.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.