Barclays PLC Boosts Stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 197.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 286,661 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 190,445 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $5,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 17.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,115,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,119 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 15.9% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,012,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,866,000 after buying an additional 963,068 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,662,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,193,000 after acquiring an additional 176,887 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 20.4% during the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,124,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,408,000 after acquiring an additional 699,500 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Liberty Energy by 17.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,754,000 after acquiring an additional 594,051 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total value of $288,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 730,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,041,880.61. This trade represents a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $56,253.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,543,877 shares in the company, valued at $48,740,683.32. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 87,973 shares of company stock worth $1,641,235. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Liberty Energy stock opened at $18.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.84. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.57 and a 12-month high of $24.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.71.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced 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). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 15.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on LBRT. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Atb Cap Markets raised Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.50.

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.