Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy Inc., purchasing 27,299 shares valued at approximately $432,000 during the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their positions in Liberty Energy, with ownership by institutional investors at 98.22%.
• Liberty Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, leading to an annual yield of 2.8%, with the dividend payout ratio at 24.62%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 27,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $432,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,788 shares of the company's stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,140,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 257.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,583 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $903,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 637,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,690,000 after acquiring an additional 42,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LBRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler started coverage on Liberty Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Liberty Energy from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.15.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of LBRT traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.04. The stock had a trading volume of 2,554,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,973,700. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.50 and a 1-year high of $23.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 6.01%. The company's revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.62%.

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.