Royce & Associates LP Decreases Stock Position in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 523,458 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,128 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.32% of Liberty Energy worth $6,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 213.7% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 931.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 5,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 4,851 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 460.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 4,791 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 45.2% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 2,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,562 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT opened at $27.37 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Liberty Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.50 and a twelve month high of $28.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75 and a beta of 0.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.21. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.24% and a net margin of 3.69%.The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $880.59 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.42.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $634,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 784,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,918,706.22. This represents a 3.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 9,696 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,978.72. The trade was a 54.25% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.