Creative Planning Increases Stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Creative Planning increased its position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,456 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,071,000. CX Institutional bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,170,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 2,958.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 53,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 51,501 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,509 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $7,636,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $17.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $24.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.20 and its 200 day moving average is $20.86.

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

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 13.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup downgraded Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 750,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,011,642.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 750,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,011,642.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $398,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,678,813 shares in the company, valued at $53,335,166.83. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,911,802 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

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.