Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 154,070 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 45.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 495,578 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 154,070 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Liberty Energy worth $9,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LBRT. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,555 shares of the company's stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 114.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 174,265 shares of the company's stock worth $3,611,000 after buying an additional 92,923 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 32,858 shares of the company's stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 2,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the first quarter valued at about $690,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $300,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 750,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,011,642.07. This trade represents a 1.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total value of $36,971.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,578,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,805,455.95. The trade was a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,037 shares of company stock worth $1,911,802 over the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 2.5 %

LBRT stock traded down $0.44 on Friday, reaching $16.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,183,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,500,260. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.05 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.63. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.57 and a 12-month high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Liberty Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This is a boost from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LBRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lowered shares of Liberty Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.89.

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.