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

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $17.91, but opened at $17.23. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $17.56, with a volume of 201,955 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.89.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 2.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.13.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 13.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total transaction of $105,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 745,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,656,799.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $105,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 745,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,656,799.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total transaction of $395,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,638,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,169,333.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 95,000 shares of company stock worth $1,945,650. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LBRT. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 20.4% during the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,124,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,408,000 after buying an additional 699,500 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 17.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,754,000 after purchasing an additional 594,051 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Liberty Energy by 2.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,634,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,030,000 after acquiring an additional 67,362 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 48.0% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,981,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,385,000 after acquiring an additional 642,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 19.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,717,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,880,000 after buying an additional 280,550 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.