Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $29.42, but opened at $27.65. Liberty Energy shares last traded at $31.3230, with a volume of 1,179,869 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $17.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.83.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.98 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.26 and its 200-day moving average is $21.90.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 1.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 40.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 27,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,978.72. This represents a 54.25% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total transaction of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 343,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,716,010. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. First Horizon Corp increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. 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.