Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 83.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,828,712 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,197,352 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 2.95% of Liberty Energy worth $96,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LBRT. Quarry LP grew its position in Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 257.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,583 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 604.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 2,111 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 176.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 2,184 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Atb Cap Markets raised Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.90.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 717,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,868,218.48. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE LBRT opened at $16.09 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.86 and a 12 month high of $24.75. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.42.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. As a group, research analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.11%.

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.