US Bancorp DE Boosts Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 93.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,180 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,016 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,124,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,408,000 after purchasing an additional 699,500 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 594,051 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,634,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,030,000 after purchasing an additional 67,362 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,981,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,385,000 after purchasing an additional 642,700 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,717,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,880,000 after purchasing an additional 280,550 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $86,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 725,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,480,812.47. This trade represents a 0.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total transaction of $36,971.55. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,578,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,805,455.95. The trade was a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,911,802 over the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LBRT opened at $16.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.57 and a 52-week high of $24.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.63. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Atb Cap Markets cut Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.89.

Liberty Energy 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.