Empowered Funds LLC Cuts Stake in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC reduced its Liberty Energy stake by 14.3% in the first quarter, selling 131,530 shares and retaining 785,107 shares valued at approximately $22.6 million.
• Other institutional investors increased their positions substantially, including Arrowstreet Capital, Franklin Resources, Balyasny Asset Management, and Millennium Management. Institutional investors collectively own 98.22% of Liberty Energy’s shares.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $31.09. Liberty Energy recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and declared a $0.09 quarterly dividend, yielding about 2.0% annually.

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 785,107 shares of the company's stock after selling 131,530 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.48% of Liberty Energy worth $22,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 901.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,431,125 shares of the company's stock worth $127,616,000 after buying an additional 3,988,535 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $105,826,000 after acquiring an additional 3,771,724 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,529.2% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,753,357 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584,359 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 184.7% in the 4th 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. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,653,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on LBRT. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Liberty Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.09.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $17.62 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $26.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.54. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.90 and a 52 week high of $34.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. Liberty Energy's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 9,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total transaction of $258,874.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 773,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,031,377.79. This trade represents a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 89,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,046,185.60. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,012 shares of company stock worth $1,673,803 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% 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.

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