Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Plans $0.07 Quarterly Dividend

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 16th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of 0.07 per share on Thursday, June 20th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th.

Liberty Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 63.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Liberty Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 8.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Liberty Energy to earn $3.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.2%.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $21.52 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.63. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $11.62 and a twelve month high of $23.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 6.81, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.85.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.03). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 32.28%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Liberty Energy will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $453,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,858,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,780,725.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total transaction of $453,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,858,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,780,725.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ryan T. Gosney sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 140,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,884,473. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 98,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,077,491. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Liberty Energy by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 121,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,589 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LBRT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.67.

Liberty Energy Company 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.