Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Trims Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 23.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 678,332 shares of the company’s stock after selling 208,444 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.41% of Liberty Energy worth $14,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 70.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $22.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.35. Liberty Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.57 and a fifty-two week high of $24.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.74.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 22.85% and a net margin of 9.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Liberty Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.78.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total transaction of $405,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,758,813 shares in the company, valued at $55,893,551.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total value of $405,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,758,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,893,551.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 4,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $91,897.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 785,207 shares in the company, valued at $16,497,199.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 106,000 shares of company stock worth $2,321,231 over the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.