Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,886,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,003,475 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 1.71% of Liberty Energy worth $52,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth $174,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 395.9% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 59,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 47,409 shares during the period. Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth $902,000. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 80,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 3,966 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total value of $268,491.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 69,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,702.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.87, for a total value of $417,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 806,056 shares in the company, valued at $16,822,388.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $268,491.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 69,963 shares in the company, valued at $1,507,702.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,459 shares of company stock valued at $1,544,491. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased 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, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.30.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 2.4 %

Liberty Energy stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 782,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,918,756. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.62 and a 52-week high of $23.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.93.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 26.46%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.22%.

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.