The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 167,820 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,666,741 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 167,820 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 1.02% of Liberty Energy worth $31,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,012,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,866,000 after purchasing an additional 963,068 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 20.4% during the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,124,695 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,408,000 after buying an additional 699,500 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 48.0% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,981,100 shares of the company's stock worth $41,385,000 after buying an additional 642,700 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 17.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company's stock worth $82,754,000 after buying an additional 594,051 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 345.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 573,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,974,000 after acquiring an additional 444,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised Liberty Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Liberty Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.89.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In related news, 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 transaction of $105,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 745,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,656,799.07. The trade was a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total value of $36,971.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,578,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,805,455.95. The trade was a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,037 shares of company stock worth $1,911,802 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE LBRT traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.40. The stock had a trading volume of 909,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,527,912. The business's 50 day moving average is $18.60 and its 200-day moving average is $20.36. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.57 and a 52 week high of $24.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.70.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during 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 was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is an increase from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio is 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.