Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT Stock Position Raised by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 0.5% in Q4 to 18,096,443 shares (11.17%), worth about $334.1 million, and institutional investors own roughly 98.22% of the company.
• The analyst consensus is a “Moderate Buy” with a $30.17 average target (7 Buy, 7 Hold); recent notable calls include Bank of America upgrading to Buy ($31), Piper Sandler raising its target to $38, and Morgan Stanley at $36.
• Liberty Energy beat the quarter with $0.06 EPS vs. a ($0.13) estimate and $1.02B revenue, declared a $0.09 quarterly dividend (annual $0.36, ~1.1% yield), and saw mixed insider activity with the chairman selling a small position while a director bought shares.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,096,443 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 97,998 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.17% of Liberty Energy worth $334,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $838,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $1,318,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 599,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,403,000 after buying an additional 399,900 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 94.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 95,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 46,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP now owns 334,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,129,000 after buying an additional 162,668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LBRT shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Energy news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $249,312.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 9,696 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at $710,978.72. This trade represents a 54.25% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of Liberty Energy stock opened at $31.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Liberty Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.90 and a fifty-two week high of $34.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.24. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 34.86 and a beta of 0.56.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued 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 yield of 1.1%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is 39.56%.

About Liberty Energy

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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