Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $14.77 and last traded at $14.58, with a volume of 76827 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $15.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LBRT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.30.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.02. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 17.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $56,253.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,543,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,740,683.32. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total value of $97,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 700,207 shares in the company, valued at $13,661,038.57. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,936 shares of company stock valued at $864,604 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 495,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after buying an additional 154,070 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193,918 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 872,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,651,000 after acquiring an additional 37,927 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 168.2% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 62,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 39,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 89.2% in the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,682,000 after purchasing an additional 165,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.