Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 431,269 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,233,668 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 431,269 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.06% of Liberty Energy worth $265,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 79.6% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LBRT shares. Zacks Research raised Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $249,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 89,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,185.60. This trade represents a 7.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 19,998 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $669,533.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 800,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,796,555. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 54,012 shares of company stock valued at $1,673,803 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE LBRT opened at $25.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.54. Liberty Energy Inc. has a one year low of $9.90 and a one year high of $34.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.21.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.56%.

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. 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.