71,900 Shares in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Liberty Energy, buying 71,900 shares worth about $2.07 million in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes, and institutions now own 98.22% of the company, while insiders have been selling shares recently.
• Liberty Energy beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.06 EPS versus an expected loss and $1.02 billion in revenue; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $32.18.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 71,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,071,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,096,443 shares of the company's stock worth $334,060,000 after acquiring an additional 97,998 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,802,399 shares of the company's stock worth $162,494,000 after purchasing an additional 189,829 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 78.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company's stock worth $105,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771,724 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 28.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,809,390 shares of the company's stock worth $96,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716,007 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 184.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,287,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $103,323.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 783,710 shares in the company, valued at $24,295,010. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 89,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,013 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,929. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on LBRT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.18.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 0.4%

LBRT opened at $26.17 on Wednesday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.90 and a fifty-two week high of $34.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.28 and a 200-day moving average of $26.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.71 million. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%. Liberty Energy's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.56%.

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.

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