Systematic Financial Management LP Purchases New Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 37,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 96.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Trading Down 6.0 %

Shares of NYSE LBRT traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.23. The stock had a trading volume of 3,115,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,487,413. The company's 50 day moving average price is $18.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.20. 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 twelve month low of $16.57 and a twelve month high of $24.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $398,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,678,813 shares in the company, valued at $53,335,166.83. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $105,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 745,207 shares in the company, valued at $15,656,799.07. This trade represents a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,037 shares of company stock worth $2,088,232. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Five 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.89.

About Liberty Energy

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.