Castleark Management LLC Invests $7.63 Million in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 264,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,626,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 79.6% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Liberty Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Liberty Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Liberty Energy beat Q2 expectations, reporting EPS of $0.09 and revenue of about $1.19 billion, both above estimates, with revenue up 14% year over year. Management also pointed to record utilization, pricing improvements, and AI-related initiatives as growth drivers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Liberty Energy announced a strategic joint venture with PowerBridge to support a planned 2 GW powered data center campus in Texas, reinforcing its push into power-fueled growth opportunities beyond its core oilfield services business. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital lowered its price target on Liberty Energy to $29 from $34 and kept a “sector perform” rating. The new target still suggests meaningful upside, but the cut may have dampened enthusiasm. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Liberty Energy’s earnings call highlighted an upbeat growth strategy, but also noted investor focus on market volatility and the company’s higher capital spending plans. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports said LBRT plunged after management raised its full-year capex outlook, which can raise concerns about near-term free cash flow even if it supports longer-term expansion. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Liberty Energy from “strong-buy” to “hold,” adding to cautious sentiment around the stock. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $249,312.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 89,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,046,185.60. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 19,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $669,533.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 800,375 shares in the company, valued at $26,796,555. This trade represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 54,012 shares of company stock worth $1,673,803 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.09.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 0.1%

LBRT stock opened at $17.34 on Monday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.90 and a twelve month high of $34.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.21.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.28 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.65%.

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. 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.