Eagle Asset Management Inc. Sells 667,609 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 218,653 shares of the company’s stock after selling 667,609 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $3,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 495,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,461,000 after buying an additional 154,070 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 872,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,651,000 after acquiring an additional 37,927 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 168.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 62,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 39,497 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its position in Liberty Energy by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 466,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,904,000 after purchasing an additional 99,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the third quarter worth $619,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, 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 transaction of $36,971.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,578,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,805,455.95. This represents a 0.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $105,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 745,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,656,799.07. The trade was a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,911,802 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LBRT. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.89.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Liberty Energy stock opened at $18.99 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.70. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.57 and a 12 month high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 13.33%.

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.