Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Buys 6,777 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 31,299 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,777 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 604.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Liberty Energy by 176.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 24.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LBRT shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.30.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT stock opened at $14.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.86 and a 52-week high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 717,292 shares in the company, valued at $12,868,218.48. The trade was a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $808,350. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.