Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) was the target of a large decline in short interest in 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 trading volume of 3,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.4 days. Currently, 10.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Liberty Energy stock remained flat at $23.01 during midday trading on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 1,960,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,645,986. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.88. 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 $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.85.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 26.46% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.30.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $453,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,858,814 shares in the company, valued at $64,780,725.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $453,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,858,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,780,725.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ryan T. Gosney sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 140,706 shares in the company, valued at $2,884,473. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,459 shares of company stock worth $2,077,491 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $146,000. U S Global Investors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $155,000. Edge Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $253,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy in the first quarter valued at $348,000. 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.