MAI Capital Management Raises Position in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

MAI Capital Management grew its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 102.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,663 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,596 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Liberty Energy by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,443,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,967,000 after buying an additional 1,128,491 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,508,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,201,000 after acquiring an additional 330,520 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 3.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,507,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,696,000 after purchasing an additional 73,792 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 13.5% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,438,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,593,000 after purchasing an additional 290,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 20.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,161,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,815,000 after purchasing an additional 365,506 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $17.67 on Wednesday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.50 and a 52-week high of $23.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 32.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on LBRT shares. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $12.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.80.

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.