Fmr LLC Buys 2,640,119 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Fmr LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,115,282 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,640,119 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned 11.09% of Liberty Energy worth $345,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 15.9% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,012,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,866,000 after acquiring an additional 963,068 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,124,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,408,000 after purchasing an additional 699,500 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in Liberty Energy by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,981,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,385,000 after purchasing an additional 642,700 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 17.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,754,000 after purchasing an additional 594,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 345.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 573,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,974,000 after buying an additional 444,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $398,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,678,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,335,166.83. The trade was a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 750,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,011,642.07. This trade represents a 1.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,037 shares of company stock worth $1,911,802. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT opened at $18.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.70. The business’s 50-day moving average is $18.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.36. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.57 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.89.

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.