MQS Management LLC Invests $309,000 in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 14,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 54.6% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBRT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Liberty Energy from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.78.

Insider Activity

In other Liberty Energy news, CAO Ryan T. Gosney sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total value of $47,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 170,882 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,727. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Liberty Energy news, CAO Ryan T. Gosney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total value of $47,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 170,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,727. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.10, for a total value of $462,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 259,108 shares in the company, valued at $5,985,394.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 176,000 shares of company stock worth $3,932,731. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE LBRT traded up $0.54 on Friday, reaching $22.82. 157,366 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,694,531. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.57 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.12. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 22.85% and a net margin of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is presently 10.22%.

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.