Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Short Interest Down 17.7% in April

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,370,000 shares, a decline of 17.7% from the March 31st total of 19,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days. Currently, 10.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.30.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LBRT traded up $0.07 during trading on Monday, hitting $23.09. 1,986,743 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,945,816. Liberty Energy has a 1-year low of $11.62 and a 1-year high of $23.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.46 and its 200-day moving average is $19.89.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 26.46%. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $405,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,830,402 shares in the company, valued at $57,372,248.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $405,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,830,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,372,248.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $268,491.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 69,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,507,702.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 98,459 shares of company stock worth $2,077,491. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Liberty Energy by 1,777.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 233,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,232,000 after purchasing an additional 220,854 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,241,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,505,000 after purchasing an additional 247,074 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,532,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,549,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 237,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,391,000 after purchasing an additional 65,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.