Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $19.80, but opened at $20.43. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $20.32, with a volume of 48,516 shares.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup cut Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 8.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 6.68, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.34.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 22.85% and a net margin of 9.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 750,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,011,642.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 750,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,011,642.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $398,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,678,813 shares in the company, valued at $53,335,166.83. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,945,650 over the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,338,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,732,000 after purchasing an additional 165,400 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.5% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 20,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the first quarter worth about $348,000. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the first quarter worth about $253,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.