Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 166,443 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,237,247 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 166,443 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.37% of Liberty Energy worth $42,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth about $368,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Liberty Energy during the first quarter worth about $1,299,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 571.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 35,248 shares of the company's stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 69.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 43.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,213 shares of the company's stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of LBRT traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $18.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,832,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,525,131. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.31. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.70.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LBRT. Citigroup downgraded Liberty Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Liberty Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.89.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 750,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,011,642.07. This trade represents a 1.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.44, for a total value of $209,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,606,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,462,818.72. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 99,037 shares of company stock worth $1,911,802. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

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.