Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Raises Dividend to $0.10 Per Share

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share on Friday, December 18th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This is a 11.1% increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09.

Liberty Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 0.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Liberty Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 78.3% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities research analysts expect Liberty Energy to earn $0.12 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 300.0%.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 1.3%

LBRT traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,301,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,238,773. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $14.76 and a one year high of $34.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.45.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Liberty Energy will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, Director Arjun Murti acquired 14,053 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.79 per share, with a total value of $250,002.87. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,621 shares in the company, valued at $740,437.59. This represents a 50.98% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 3,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $66,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 753,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,074,260. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,665 shares of company stock valued at $319,301. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,660,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,099,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $61,185,000. Arlington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,821,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,071,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc is an oilfield services company that provides completion and production services to exploration and production companies. Its primary business is hydraulic fracturing, a well-stimulation technique used to improve the flow of oil and natural gas from unconventional reservoirs.

The company also offers wireline services, well diagnostics, frac data analysis, engineering support, and related technologies designed to help customers plan, execute, and evaluate well-completion operations.