JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 1,193,918 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,146,179 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,193,918 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $60,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LBRT. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,115,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,119 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Liberty Energy by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,012,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,866,000 after buying an additional 963,068 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $79,408,000 after buying an additional 699,500 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 17.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,961,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,754,000 after acquiring an additional 594,051 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 285.1% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 700,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,379,000 after acquiring an additional 518,830 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.44, for a total value of $209,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,606,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,462,818.72. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $86,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 725,207 shares in the company, 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 have sold 77,973 shares of company stock valued at $1,471,335 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LBRT opened at $20.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $18.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.64. Liberty Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.57 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 1.71.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is 15.24%.

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.