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

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 279,467 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Liberty Energy worth $5,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LBRT. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 872,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,651,000 after buying an additional 37,927 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 96.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 94,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after buying an additional 15,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $619,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 717,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,868,218.48. The trade was a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $808,350 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LBRT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.30.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $14.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.81. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.85 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.58.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

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

Liberty Energy Profile

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.