Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 510,109 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,998,445 shares of the company’s stock after selling 510,109 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Liberty Energy worth $222,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $23,653,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 285.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 1,114,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,795,000 after buying an additional 825,759 shares during the period. Callodine Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 203.3% in the 2nd quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 1,057,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,134,000 after acquiring an additional 708,453 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 10.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,093,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,952,000 after acquiring an additional 584,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the second quarter worth about $6,650,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Liberty Energy stock opened at $28.05 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.22. Liberty Energy Inc. has a one year low of $9.50 and a one year high of $28.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.51 and a beta of 0.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $880.59 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 1.24%. Liberty Energy’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LBRT. Barclays boosted their price target on Liberty Energy from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Liberty Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider directly owned 343,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,716,010. This trade represents a 6.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,978.72. This trade represents a 54.25% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.90% 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.