Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.09

Key Points

• Liberty Energy declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, payable June 18 to shareholders of record on June 4 (ex-dividend June 4), equal to an annualized $0.36 and a ~1.3% yield.
• The company beat estimates last quarter with $0.05 EPS (vs. -$0.16 expected) and $1.04B in revenue (+10.1% YoY); the dividend is currently covered by a 78.3% payout ratio today but analysts forecast $1.24 EPS next year, implying a much lower ~29% payout ratio going forward.
• Insiders R. Sean Elliott and CFO Michael Stock each sold 25,000 shares in February at about $25.4, while institutional/hedge fund ownership is very high at around 98.2%, with notable additions from T. Rowe Price, Invesco and others.

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share on Thursday, June 18th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th.

Liberty Energy has raised its dividend by an average of 0.5%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Liberty Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 78.3% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Liberty Energy to earn $1.24 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.0%.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE LBRT opened at $27.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock's 50-day moving average is $27.87 and its 200-day moving average is $21.33. Liberty Energy has a one year low of $9.90 and a one year high of $32.40.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $880.59 million. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.24% and a net margin of 3.69%.Liberty Energy's revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total transaction of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 343,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,716,010. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 25,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $634,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 784,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,918,706.22. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,503,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,216,000 after acquiring an additional 946,591 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,074,464 shares of the company's stock worth $19,835,000 after buying an additional 99,851 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 31,658 shares of the company's stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 39.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 916,637 shares of the company's stock worth $16,921,000 after buying an additional 261,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 96.3% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 46,642 shares of the company's stock worth $861,000 after buying an additional 22,885 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Liberty Energy

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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