Vestcor Inc Acquires 62,302 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 490.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 75,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 62,302 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 1.2% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 298,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,680,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 18.2% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 16,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 461,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,697,000 after buying an additional 132,084 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,334,000. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 260.0% during the third quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 1,053,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,999,000 after purchasing an additional 760,848 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:LBRT traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $30.00. The stock had a trading volume of 362,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,447,125. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.33. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.50 and a 12 month high of $31.16. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $880.59 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 1.24%. Liberty Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 40.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LBRT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Liberty Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 9,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the purchase, the director owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at $710,978.72. This represents a 54.25% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 $19,918,706.22. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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. 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.