Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 202,930 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 13,448.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 204,439 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 202,930 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $5,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,096,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,060,000 after buying an additional 97,998 shares during the period. Round Rock Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 104,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 41,163 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 122.4% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,116,000 after acquiring an additional 92,900 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $629,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 23.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,876,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,155,000 after acquiring an additional 355,576 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Energy news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $249,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. This trade represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 9,999 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total transaction of $258,874.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 773,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,031,377.79. This trade represents a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 54,012 shares of company stock valued at $1,673,803 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.09.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $23.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.54. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.90 and a 52-week high of $34.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.71 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.56%.

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.