Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP Has $22.09 Million Stock Holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP trimmed its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 767,182 shares of the company’s stock after selling 126,600 shares during the period. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $22,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the first quarter worth about $28,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $16.85 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.88 and its 200-day moving average is $27.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.54. Liberty Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.90 and a fifty-two week high of $34.48.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $249,312.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 9,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total transaction of $258,874.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 773,711 shares in the company, valued at $20,031,377.79. This trade represents a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 54,012 shares of company stock valued at $1,673,803 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LBRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.09.

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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.