Empyrean Capital Partners LP Purchases New Stake in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Key Points

• Empyrean Capital Partners disclosed a new position in Liberty Energy, buying 1.2 million shares worth about $22.2 million and owning roughly 0.74% of the company.
• Liberty Energy reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.06 versus an estimated loss and revenue of $1.02 billion, up 4.5% year over year.
• The stock has drawn mixed signals: analysts currently rate it a Moderate Buy on average with a $32.18 target price, while insiders recently sold shares, including the chairman and CFO.

Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,200,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,152,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP owned about 0.74% of Liberty Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,575,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,826,000 after buying an additional 3,771,724 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 1,529.2% during 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 buying an additional 2,584,359 shares during the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $23,653,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $36,394,000. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $22,336,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, April 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Liberty Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.18.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $27.19 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.90 and a 12 month high of $34.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.06.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.56%.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $249,312.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,046,185.60. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 3,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $103,323.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 783,710 shares in the company, valued at $24,295,010. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 44,013 shares of company stock worth $1,414,929 over the last ninety days. 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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