Voya Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Liberty Energy, acquiring an additional 70,314 shares, bringing its total to 118,133 shares valued at approximately $1.87 million.
• Analyst ratings for Liberty Energy have varied, with some downgrades to "sell" and others adjusting price targets, leading to a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $15.05.
• Liberty Energy recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 2.9%, reflecting a payout ratio of approximately 24.62%.

Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 147.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,133 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 70,314 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.07% of Liberty Energy worth $1,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,465 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $161,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $162,000. Finally, Cooper Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.9% during the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,641 shares of the company's stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 6.8%

Shares of Liberty Energy stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Monday, hitting $11.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,969,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,880,797. 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 52 week low of $9.50 and a 52 week high of $23.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.15.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share 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 company's revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LBRT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.05.

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.