Peregrine Capital Management LLC Acquires 80,403 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Peregrine Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 33.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 317,895 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,403 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $3,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 6.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,443,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,491 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 6.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,508,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,201,000 after purchasing an additional 330,520 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 3.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,507,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,696,000 after purchasing an additional 73,792 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 13.5% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,438,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,593,000 after purchasing an additional 290,320 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,105,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,330,000 after purchasing an additional 38,123 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of LBRT opened at $17.05 on Wednesday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.50 and a 12 month high of $23.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.05). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 1.69%. The firm had revenue of $947.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Liberty Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Liberty Energy from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Liberty Energy from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.10.

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.