Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT Position Reduced by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments cut its Liberty Energy stake by 29% in the first quarter, though it still held 691,818 shares worth about $19.3 million at quarter-end.
• Liberty Energy recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.06 versus a loss estimate and revenue of $1.02 billion, up 4.5% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $32.09.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 29.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 691,818 shares of the company's stock after selling 283,186 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.42% of Liberty Energy worth $19,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LBRT. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 79.6% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 23,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,583 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,085 shares of the company's stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 3.5%

Liberty Energy stock opened at $24.90 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.21 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 stock has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.54.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.71 million. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 3.71%.Liberty Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.56%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman owned 89,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. This trade represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $258,874.11. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 773,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,031,377.79. This represents a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,012 shares of company stock valued at $1,673,803. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on LBRT. Barclays boosted their price target on Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.09.

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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