Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $8.04 Million Holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors cut its Liberty Energy stake by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 435,456 shares valued at about $8.04 million.
• Liberty Energy recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.06 versus estimates for a loss and revenue of $1.02 billion, up 4.5% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally constructive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, with several firms raising price targets and the average target sitting at $30.42.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 27.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 435,456 shares of the company's stock after selling 164,444 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Liberty Energy worth $8,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LBRT. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 94,205 shares of the company's stock worth $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 4,095 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,992.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,030 shares of the company's stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 11,455 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 868,978 shares of the company's stock worth $13,756,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 81,446 shares of the company's stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 14,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 9,696 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.79 per share, for a total transaction of $250,059.84. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at $710,978.72. This represents a 54.25% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised Liberty Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Liberty Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.42.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:LBRT opened at $33.08 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $29.40 and its 200-day moving average is $23.24. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.90 and a 52-week high of $34.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.35 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is presently 39.56%.

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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