First Eagle Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 279,467 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $5,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. FMR LLC boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 17.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,115,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,821,000 after buying an additional 2,640,119 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 61.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,061,000 after buying an additional 1,193,918 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 15.9% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,012,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,866,000 after buying an additional 963,068 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 285.1% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 700,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,379,000 after buying an additional 518,830 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,792,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total transaction of $179,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $808,350. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT stock opened at $14.55 on Friday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.85 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.62 and a 200 day moving average of $18.81. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 14.28%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 17.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LBRT. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.30.

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.