Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Increases Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 345.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 573,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 444,500 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.34% of Liberty Energy worth $11,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LBRT. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 69.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 70.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $21.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.70, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.78 and its 200 day moving average is $21.44. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.33 and a 52 week high of $24.75.

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

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 10.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total transaction of $405,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,758,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,893,551.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 750,207 shares in the company, valued at $15,011,642.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total value of $405,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,758,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,893,551.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,000 shares of company stock worth $2,084,231. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.