Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 603,496 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 518.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 719,851 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 603,496 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $13,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 3.8% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 18,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 42,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 59.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 60,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $22.82 on Wednesday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.62 and a twelve month high of $23.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.25 and its 200 day moving average is $19.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 26.46% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.22%.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $453,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,858,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,780,725.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $268,491.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 69,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,702.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $453,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,858,814 shares in the company, valued at $64,780,725.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 98,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,077,491. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LBRT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays upped their target price on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.30.

Liberty Energy Company 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.