Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 341,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,792,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Liberty Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,178,089 shares of the company's stock worth $102,992,000 after purchasing an additional 505,634 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 83.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,828,712 shares of the company's stock worth $96,043,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,352 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Liberty Energy by 61.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company's stock worth $60,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193,918 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Liberty Energy by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,433,866 shares of the company's stock worth $48,410,000 after purchasing an additional 196,619 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,082,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,416,000 after purchasing an additional 156,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Liberty Energy stock traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $12.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 181,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,732,988. Liberty Energy Inc. has a one year low of $9.50 and a one year high of $24.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $14.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. The firm had revenue of $977.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $960.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.19%.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total transaction of $179,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 717,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,868,218.48. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on LBRT. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Liberty Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.05.

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.