Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Acquired by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. by 31.9%, owning approximately 0.08% of the company valued at $2.13 million after acquiring additional shares.
• Several analysts adjusted their price targets for Liberty Energy, with JPMorgan and Citigroup both reducing targets to $13.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating.
• Liberty Energy recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.43% with a payout ratio of 24.62%.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 134,632 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,523 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.08% of Liberty Energy worth $2,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,828,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,043,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,352 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $20,337,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,147,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,718,000 after acquiring an additional 480,957 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $8,140,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $7,570,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LBRT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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, Wall Street Zen cut Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.15.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:LBRT traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,100,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,478,444. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $12.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.28. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.50 and a twelve month high of $24.43. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.62%.

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.