Hennessy Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 432,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 49,400 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 0.27% of Liberty Energy worth $6,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LBRT. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,178,089 shares of the company's stock worth $102,992,000 after purchasing an additional 505,634 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 83.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,828,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,043,000 after buying an additional 2,197,352 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,433,866 shares of the company's stock worth $48,410,000 after acquiring an additional 196,619 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,147,698 shares of the company's stock worth $42,718,000 after purchasing an additional 480,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,067,391 shares of the company's stock worth $41,120,000 after purchasing an additional 151,019 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

LBRT traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.26. 1,180,580 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,830,357. The company's fifty day moving average price is $12.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.50 and a 52-week high of $24.43.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $977.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.64 million. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LBRT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.23.

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.