The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 42.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 835,438 shares of the company’s stock after selling 619,459 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.51% of Liberty Energy worth $24,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 16,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 4,955 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 6.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,626,000. Compound Planning Inc. bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $547,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 901.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,431,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988,535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LBRT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 price objective on Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Liberty Energy from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.09.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 14,053 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.79 per share, with a total value of $250,002.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,621 shares in the company, valued at $740,437.59. This represents a 50.98% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,012 shares of company stock worth $1,673,803. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $18.65 on Friday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.90 and a 1 year high of $34.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.10. 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 cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.54.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 2.92%.The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. Liberty Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is presently 48.65%.

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.