Magnetar Financial LLC Buys New Holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC made a new investment in Liberty Energy Inc., acquiring approximately $4 million worth of shares (252,635 shares), constituting around 0.16% of the company.
• Liberty Energy has seen a variety of institutional investments, with 98.22% of its stock owned by institutional investors.
• Despite recent downgrades from analysts, Liberty Energy's stock has an average target price of $15.05 and is rated as a "Moderate Buy."

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 252,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,999,000. Magnetar Financial LLC owned about 0.16% of Liberty Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 62,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,641 shares of the company's stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,465 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 90,110 shares of the company's stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 42,471 shares of the company's stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LBRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. 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 report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.05.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 3.3%

LBRT traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $10.68. 1,030,763 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,391,734. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 0.63. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.50 and a 1-year high of $23.58. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $11.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.0%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.