Swiss National Bank Reduces Stock Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 0.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 309,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $5,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LBRT. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 154,070 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 4.5% during the third 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. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 27.2% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 466,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,904,000 after acquiring an additional 99,722 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $619,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 34.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,498,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,312,000 after acquiring an additional 381,841 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $18.45 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.44. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.57 and a 52 week high of $24.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.70. 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 (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 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 return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. 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. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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 note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,037 shares of Liberty Energy 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,578,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,805,455.95. This trade 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 through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $86,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 725,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,480,812.47. This trade represents a 0.68 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

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.