Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Buys 24,897 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 389,124 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,897 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Liberty Energy worth $8,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at about $27,809,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $21,278,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $13,877,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Liberty Energy by 17.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,754,000 after buying an additional 594,051 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in Liberty Energy by 60.2% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,437,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,775,000 after buying an additional 539,861 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LBRT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.78.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total value of $325,333.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 789,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,439,076.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,626 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total transaction of $325,333.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 789,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,439,076.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total transaction of $405,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,758,813 shares in the company, valued at $55,893,551.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,580,981 over the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT stock opened at $18.84 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.86 and a 200-day moving average of $21.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.33 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.69.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 22.85%. Liberty Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.