Stifel Financial Corp Raises Stock Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 33.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,849 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,573 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.09% of Liberty Energy worth $2,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LBRT. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 23.4% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 89,274 shares of the company's stock worth $1,865,000 after purchasing an additional 16,947 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Liberty Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 76,300 shares of the company's stock worth $1,594,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,634,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,030,000 after acquiring an additional 67,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 69.4% in the second quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 39,910 shares of the company's stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 16,353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Liberty Energy stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $18.27. The company had a trading volume of 2,460,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,552,396. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 1.71. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $18.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.89. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change 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 1.75%. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $86,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 725,207 shares in the company, valued at $12,480,812.47. The trade was a 0.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $395,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,638,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,169,333.01. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,973 shares of company stock valued at $1,641,235 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

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.