Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $34.42 and last traded at $33.8290, with a volume of 7031889 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LBRT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 target price on Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.17.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88 and a beta of 0.56.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 3.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.71 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.56%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 9,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at $710,978.72. This trade represents a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 784,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,918,706.22. This represents a 3.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $838,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,318,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its position in Liberty Energy by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 599,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,403,000 after buying an additional 399,900 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Liberty Energy by 94.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 95,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 46,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP grew its position in Liberty Energy by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP now owns 334,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,129,000 after buying an additional 162,668 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.