Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 681,681 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,280 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.41% of Liberty Energy worth $14,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $27,809,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $21,278,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $13,877,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Liberty Energy by 17.6% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in Liberty Energy by 60.2% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,437,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,775,000 after acquiring an additional 539,861 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LBRT. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup upgraded Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,626 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total value of $325,333.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 789,581 shares in the company, valued at $16,439,076.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,626 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total value of $325,333.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 789,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,439,076.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total value of $405,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,758,813 shares in the company, valued at $55,893,551.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,000 shares of company stock worth $1,580,981. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $20.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.68. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.33 and a 1-year high of $24.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.47.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 22.85% and a net margin of 9.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.22%.

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.