Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.39 Million in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 76,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,393,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 59.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LBRT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $405,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,830,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,372,248.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Liberty Energy news, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $268,491.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 69,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,507,702.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $405,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,830,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $57,372,248.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,459 shares of company stock worth $2,077,491 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of LBRT traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $22.12. 2,906,677 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,978,000. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.62 and a 1 year high of $23.31. The firm's fifty day moving average is $21.20 and its 200-day moving average is $19.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.85.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 26.46%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.22%.

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.