Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,012,382 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 963,068 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 4.29% of Liberty Energy worth $133,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $904,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the third quarter valued at $1,214,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 7.3% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 16,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 168.2% during the third 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. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 3.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 129,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 3,939 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Liberty Energy stock opened at $17.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 1.70. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.84 and a 200-day moving average of $20.55. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.57 and a 52 week high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $300,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 750,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,011,642.07. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $395,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,638,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,169,333.01. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,911,802 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBRT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered shares of Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research note 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.89.

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.