Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Down 13.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) dropped 13.7% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $11.73 and last traded at $11.32. Approximately 239,186 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 2,629,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LBRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.90.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.32.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. On average, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 17.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total transaction of $179,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 717,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,868,218.48. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 21.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 100,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 17,901 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 40,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 12,781 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 70.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 10,362 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the third quarter worth about $3,106,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.