Northern Trust Corp Acquires 38,123 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. by 1.8%, now owning approximately 1.30% of the company valued at $33.33 million.
• Liberty Energy's stock recently reported a quarterly earnings miss with earnings per share of $0.12 against an estimate of $0.14, while revenue reached $1.04 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, which will be paid to stockholders on September 18th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.8%.

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,105,514 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 38,123 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.30% of Liberty Energy worth $33,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LBRT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 912,636 shares of the company's stock worth $14,447,000 after purchasing an additional 15,596 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $761,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,110,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,054,615 shares of the company's stock worth $32,566,000 after acquiring an additional 118,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,279.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,983 shares of the company's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 16,679 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on LBRT. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.05.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE LBRT traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $10.74. 4,063,870 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,625,246. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.63. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.50 and a 1 year high of $23.58. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $11.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.71.

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

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is presently 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.