Foundry Partners LLC Acquires 28,153 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,056 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,153 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Liberty Energy worth $4,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Liberty Energy by 2.5% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 20,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Liberty Energy by 4.0% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Liberty Energy by 2.4% during the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Liberty Energy by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Liberty Energy by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE LBRT traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $22.35. 3,414,038 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,698,738. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.00. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.75 and a 52 week high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 26.46% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LBRT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.10, for a total transaction of $462,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 259,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,985,394.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, President Ron Gusek sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total value of $1,149,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 1,213,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,892,824.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.10, for a total value of $462,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 259,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,985,394.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 176,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,731. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.