Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 13,983 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 13.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,917 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,983 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Liberty Energy worth $1,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221,588 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth $21,278,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,546,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,522,000 after acquiring an additional 893,563 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth $13,877,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 522.2% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 897,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,275,000 after purchasing an additional 752,980 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:LBRT traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,732,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,379,619. Liberty Energy Inc. has a one year low of $14.75 and a one year high of $24.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.98 and a 200 day moving average of $20.93. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 26.46%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th were paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $55,893,551.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 4,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total transaction of $91,897.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 785,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,497,199.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.26, for a total value of $405,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,758,813 shares in the company, valued at $55,893,551.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 176,000 shares of company stock worth $3,932,731 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LBRT. Barclays boosted their price target on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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, Bank of America upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.44.

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.