Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Takes $3.11 Million Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 162,726 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,106,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.10% of Liberty Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LBRT. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 439,820 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,396,000 after buying an additional 21,890 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,115 shares of the company's stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 10,362 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 40,505 shares of the company's stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 12,781 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 350,735 shares of the company's stock worth $6,696,000 after purchasing an additional 17,100 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in Liberty Energy by 285.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 700,814 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,379,000 after purchasing an additional 518,830 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Liberty Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Liberty Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total transaction of $105,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 745,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,656,799.07. This represents a 0.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $398,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,678,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,335,166.83. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 110,037 shares of company stock valued at $2,088,232. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.23. 3,115,533 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,487,413. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Liberty Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.57 and a twelve month high of $24.75. The business's 50-day moving average price is $18.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.20.

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

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. This is a boost from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

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.