Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,886,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,003,475 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $52,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LBRT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,546,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,522,000 after buying an additional 893,563 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,210,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221,588 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Liberty Energy by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,244,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,568,000 after purchasing an additional 778,111 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,241,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,505,000 after purchasing an additional 247,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 14.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,116,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,200,000 after buying an additional 263,823 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $268,491.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 69,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,702.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $405,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,830,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,372,248.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total value of $268,491.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,702.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,459 shares of company stock worth $1,544,491 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of LBRT traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.54. 782,099 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,918,756. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.62 and a 1-year high of $23.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.93. 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 company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.85.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 26.46% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.53 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, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LBRT. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.30.

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.