Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Raises Stake in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 36.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 138,469 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,618 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $1,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 213.7% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the second quarter valued at $48,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 281.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3,193 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the first quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $11.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $16.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.64.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of NYSE:LBRT opened at $18.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 0.47. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.50 and a 1 year high of $23.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.05). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 1.69%. The business had revenue of $947.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a positive change from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.14%.

Liberty Energy 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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.