Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 3,733 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 17.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,662 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,733 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Canoe Financial LP boosted 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 17.6% during the 2nd 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 increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,634,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,030,000 after purchasing an additional 67,362 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,717,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,880,000 after purchasing an additional 280,550 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $398,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,678,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,335,166.83. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $105,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 745,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,656,799.07. The trade was a 0.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,911,802. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LBRT shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.89.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LBRT opened at $18.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.42. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.57 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 1.70.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 15.24%.

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.