Insider Selling: Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) CFO Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total transaction of $97,550.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 700,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,661,038.57. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Michael Stock also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 2nd, Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.49, for a total transaction of $184,900.00.
• On Wednesday, November 6th, Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.45, for a total value of $92,250.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $86,050.00.
• On Tuesday, October 1st, Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total transaction of $288,450.00.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT stock traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $19.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,276,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,553,746. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.57 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.65.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 15.24%.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,061,000 after buying an additional 1,193,918 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 872,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,651,000 after acquiring an additional 37,927 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,631,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,706,000 after purchasing an additional 61,909 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $403,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LBRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.50.

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.