Short Interest in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Decreases By 12.4%

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,330,000 shares, a drop of 12.4% from the October 15th total of 12,930,000 shares. Approximately 7.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LBRT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 63,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.51, for a total value of $1,040,295.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 796,454 shares in the company, valued at $13,149,455.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 37,761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.85, for a total transaction of $674,033.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,073,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,870,221.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 63,010 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.51, for a total transaction of $1,040,295.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 796,454 shares in the company, valued at $13,149,455.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 315,308 shares of company stock valued at $5,802,999. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 172.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 67.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 923 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 111.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 8,240.8% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 4,038 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.34% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of Liberty Energy stock traded up $0.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,218,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,106,790. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.04. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $11.18 and a 52 week high of $21.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 37.67% and a net margin of 12.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 6th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 5th. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.81%.

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, data analytics, related goods, and technologies; and other services comprising design and pump diagnostic fracture injection test, DFIT and mini-frac analysis, and laboratory services, such as fluid rheology, surfactant, clay control, scaling and biocide testing.