Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Down 3.9% Following Insider Selling

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shares fell 3.9% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $17.60 and last traded at $17.61. 220,756 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 2,507,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.33.

Specifically, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 16,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total value of $291,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,562,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,720,080.99. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.49, for a total value of $184,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 705,207 shares in the company, valued at $13,039,277.43. This trade represents a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on LBRT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets downgraded Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.89.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 5.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.25.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the first quarter valued at about $368,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 571.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 35,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 69.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 43.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at about $261,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.